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/mi..jL/
SarbartJ dTallege Hiftrarg
JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL,
om» of leas.
Received June 29, 1885.
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THE
KNIGHTS TALE:
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AND THE
FLOWER AND THE LEAF.
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THE
KNIGHTS TALE:
AND,
THJS FLOWER AND THE LEAF:
AFTER
OEOrrBBY OHAUOER:
BY
EDWARD HOVEL" THURLOW,
LORD THURLOW.
SECOND EDITION.
~~ Xonfcoit :
WILLIAM BOOTH, 32, DUKE STREET,
MANCHESTER SQUARE.
MDCCCXX1I.
ku^a
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1885, June 29>
Oiftof
james Russell Lowell,
of Cambridge*
BOUND SEP S 1913
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u
KNIGHT'S TALE.
I n the aid tine, as the old stories say,
A duke in Athens did the sceptre sway,
His name was Theseus, and of mighty state,
And such a victor in his time and date,
Under the bright Sun there was none more great.
The Amazonian coast, where women reign 'd,
And the great female sceptre long maintain'd,
Scythin of old, he fairly overrun,
Nathless the lady-knights, and all the kingdom won. ,
For he was wise and brave, and bore away 10
Tbe queen Ipolita, as fresh as Hay,
r
^
%
8 THE KNIGHT'S TALE.
Bore her to Athens with exceeding glee,
With a great glory and solemnity.
And also her young sister, Emily ;
And thus with victory and with melody,
Let I this worthy duke to Athens ride,
And all his host in armour him beside.
And surely, but it is too long to hear,
I would have told you all the fine career,
And winning of the reign of Amazons, 20
By the duke Theseus and his gallant ones,
And the great battle, to bring conquest near,
'Twixt Athens and the Amazonian spear,
And how IpoKta besieged lay,
The hardy queen of Sythia, fair as May,
And of the feast they at her wedding gave,
And of the temple deck'd at her home-coming brave :
But all these things I must as now forbear,
An ample field is waiting for my share ;
Open the smoking farrow, and for work prepare. t 30
This duke, of whom I told you the renown,
When he was come almost into the town,
THE KNIGHT'S TALE.
Id all bis welfare and his utmost pride,
And had his warlike lady by bis side,
And all the happy people shouted far and wide,
Aware he was, casting his eye aside;
Where kneel'd in the highway, and two and two,
A company of ladies, fair to view,
Each after other, in black clothes array'd ;
But such a cry, and such a woe they made, 4
None living, it may safely be averr'd,
Anotber such lamenting ever heard,
And of this cry they never stinted aught,
'Till they the reins of the duke's bridle caught.
'* Who are ye," said ibe duke, " that when 1 come
*' Thus with my lovely bride to Athens home,
" To keep my feast and marriage in delight,
" Thus clothe yourselves in weeds as black as night,
" And fall upon the ground, and wail and cry ?
" Do ye then envy my felicity ? 6
" Or who has done you any injury ?
"Tell it me straight, Ibat I amend it may :
*• Why clotb'd in black, (has wail ye on the way ?"
L-
t
THE
KNIGHTS TALE
N
AND THE
FLOWER AND THE LEAF.
i
IS THE KNIGHT'S TALE.
Flat fell they down, and cried oat piteously, 100
" Ah ! good lord duke, we perish but for thee ;
" Some mercy to us, wretched wives, impart ;
" And let our sorrow sink into thine heart."
Straight from his horse the gentle duke came down ;
The tears of pity did his visage drown,
He thought his very heart would break, to view
So lost, dejected, and distressed a crew
Of ladies, formerly of great estate,
And hopeful glory, ruin'd now by fate :
And in his arms he took them up with care, 110
And gentle love, and bade them not despair,
And comforted their souls, and made an oath,
And swore it, a true knight, upon his troth,
On the great tyrant, Creon, he would wreak
Such dreadful vengeance, that all Greece should speak
For ever of the same ; how Creon died
By Theseus, justly punished for his pride:
And there no longer will he make abode,
II is banner he displayed, and forth he rode
Right unto Thebes, and all bis host beside : 120
No nearer Athens now would Theseus ride :
THE KNIGHTS TALE.
Nor take his ease ; no, not for half day ;
But onward on his road that night he lay,
And sent IpoUta, and Emily,
The queen, and her young sister, tenderly
Into the town of Athens, there to dwell ;
And forth he rid : the very truth 1 tell.
The statue of red Mars, with spear and targe,
Like fire so shone in his white banner large,
That all the fields did glitter up and down,
And all the folks did gaze from every town :
And by his banner was his penuon borne,
Of gold full rich, that blazed like the Morn,
In which the artful hammer well had beat
The Minotaur, which Theseus slew in Crete.
Thus rid tbe duke, thus rid the conqueror,
Aud in his host, of chivalry the flower,
Until he came to Thebes, and did alight
In a fair field, whereon he thought to fight.
Nor was it long, 'ere he with Creon fought,
And slew him manly, as a soldier ought,
In the plain field of battle, and made fly,
Ah gallant man \ the Theban company ;
r
14 THE KNIGHT'S TALE
And after by assault he took the town,
And wall, and bar, and rafter rent he down ;
And to the ladies he restored again
The bodies of their husbands, that were slain ;
To give the rites, which love and honour ask,
A vain, a mournful, but a lovely task !
You rather may conceive, than 1 shall tell, 150
Since time is spare, what outcry there befell,
What weeping and lamenting, when the fire
With doleful brightness touch' d the funeral pyre ;
How the poor ladies shriek'd, as like to die ;
And the spectators groan'd in sympathy :
You also may conceive, what noble things
Did Theseus, that great proto-type of kings ;
What courtesy and grace; when from him went
The ladies, weeping for that last event
Of human life, yet thankful for his aid ; 160
Time presses, and this cannot here be said.
After the worthy duke thus Thebes had won,
And Creon slain, and all his task was done,
THE KNIGHT'S TALE. 15
Yet in the field he took that night his rest,
And did with all the country what it lik'd bim best.
The plunderers, who scent the dead afar* .
And are like dogs and vultures in the war,
Haunters inhuman of the mailed fight,
Whom kings would punish keenly, did they right,
Ransack'd the piled bodies air the night ; 170
To strip the dead of harness and of weed :
So crows may on the fallen lions feed.
And in this heap of helpless men they found,
Pierc'd through with many a grievous bloody wound,
Two young knights, lying by each other's side,
The same their armour, lovely in its pride,
And of these' two young knights, the name of one
Was Arcite, and the other Palamon.
Not quite alive, .nor yet quite dead tbey were ;
Lovely they lay upon their bloody bier, 180
Lovely as lilies, or as daffodils,
Which the sharp scythe of the keen mower kills :
And their coat-armour, and their fashion show'd
The heralds, that tliey were of royal blood ;
Of the king's race of Thebes, unhappy birth !
And of two sisters yielded to the earth.
I
16 THE KNIGHT'S TALE,
The heralds knew them : and the plunderer*
Oat of the heaps of other sufferers,
Took them, and carried softly to the tent
Of Theseus, by whose mandate they were sent 190
To Athens, for of ransom he would none :
In everlasting prison to be thrown.
And when the worthy duke so much had done,
He rais'd his host, and home he rid anon,
Crowned with laurel, as a conqueror ;
And liveth all his days, an emperor,
In joy and honour : many words are vain ; •
Coop'd in a tower, in anguish and in pain;
Poor Palamon and Arcite on the floor
Groan ; for no gold can ope their prison door. 200
So year by year flows on, and day by day ;
Till it fell out upon a morn of May,
That Emily, more lovely to be seen,
Than a fair lily on its stalk of green,
And fresher than the May, whose flowers are new,
For with the rose in colour strove her hue,
I know not which was finer of the two,
'Ere it was day, as she was wont to do,
L
THE KNIGHT'S TALE* 17
She was arisen, and soon ready dight*
For May will hare no sluggard of the night : 210
Ah ! the soft season pricketh every heart
Gentle, of either sex, from sleep to start,
And saith, « Arise! heboid the crimson ray,
" And do thy duty to the beauteous May."
And this made Emily remember too
The duty, which she had to May to do,
The duty, and the honour, and she rose,
And clad her freshly, looking like the rose C~\
" Her yellow hair was braided in a tress,
And flow'd adown her back, a full yard long I guess^ 220
And at the golden rising of the sun,
She walk'd throughout the garden up and down,
And enter'd every bower, and left unenter'd none:
The flowers she gather'd, partly white and red,
To make a lovely garland for her head,
And flower to flower with subtle art and fragrant hands
she wed :
And, as an Angel, heaven-like she sung :
All the whole garden with her carol rung :
Now the great tower, that was so thick and strong,
f
18 THE MIGHT'S TALC.
The dungeon of the castle, where each knight, 230
I told yon of, was banished from the light,
Arcite and Palamon, in prison cast,
And shall be 'till the day of judgment, fast,
So sweareth Theseus, let what will befall,
Was even joining to the garden wall,
Wherein young Emily, on morn of May,
Had her chaste heart-foil of delight and play.
Bright was the Sun, and clear the morning ray ;
And Palamon, who a poor prisoner lay,
Was, by his jailor's leave, for he was kind, 240
Or else the May had soften'd his rough mind,
Gone early to a chamber built on high,
From whence the whole of Athena he could spy ;
He saw the noble city with a sigh :
He also saw the garden shady-green,
Alleys, and lawns, and fountains bright between,
And every flower and frnit diversifyed the scene :
And there fresh Emily did sing and play :
May was the season, and her age was May.
•-■>•,
THE KNIGHT'S TALC. 19
Tbis prisoner, poor Palamon, with woe, 250
Walk'd in the chamber, pensive, to and fro ;
And often he complahVd him of his case,
And often sigh'd, and often cried, " Alas !
" Alas ! that I was born !" when so befell,
In the doe course of things, or chance, 'tis hard to tell,
That through a window, thick of many a bar,
Of iron grate, and square as any spar,
Upon young Emily he cast his eye,
Started the knight aside, and loud did cry*
" Ah !" with a note, as one at print to die, 200
As though he had been stung unto the heart
And Arcite at that cry anon upstart ;
" Tell me, my cousin, what affecteth thee r
" Why dost thou look so pale, and cry so mournfully ?
" Who injures thee, my cousin ?" said Arcite ;
" For God's love ! patience makes all evil light :
" Though in a prison we perforce must be ;
" Yet bear : 'tis matter of necessity.
" From Fortune we derive thia cruel woe :
" The aspects of old Saturn evil flow ; 270
i
SO THE KNIGHT'S TALE.
" He squints upon us with malignant sight ;
" Some constellation pales us with its light ;
" Saturn hath ruTd it thus, we may he sworn ;
" So stood the fatal heavens, when we were horn :
" And, to he short and plain, we must endure ;
" The destiny of heaven is always sure."
And Palamon replied to him again,
" Cousin, you are in this opinion vain ;
" In this imagination you are wrong;
" I am not wounded hy the prison strong, 280
" Nor holts, nor bars can cause me thus to cry,
" The power, that hurt me, hurt me through the eye,
" And pierc'd my heart, and will my ruin be :
" The fairness of a lady, which I see
'* In yonder garden, roaming to and fro,
" Is cause of all my crying and my woe ;
" Goddess or merely woman I not know,
" Venus it is ; none other can be so."
The knight then reverend fell upon his knees,
And said, " Ah holy Venus, if thou please 290
" Within the garden that thou walk a maid,
" Before me, who in prison here am laid,
Ah ! give thy great protection and thy aid :
M
THE KNIGHT'S TALE. 21
" Let us escape ; but, if our destiny
' Be in this hateful prison here to die,
' Yet on our lineage some soft pity hare,
" Whom tyrants ruin, and hard minds enslave.
tt
And with that word Areita 'gan espy
There roaming in the garden Emily :
Her sight and beauty wounded him so sore, 900
He was more hurt than Palamon before:
He piteously exclaim'd, and gave a sigh,
" Ah ! the fresh beauty slays me suddenly
*' Of her, who roameth in the flowery place,
" And, but I have her mercy and her grace,
" At least that I may see her and desire,
" I am but dead ; I feel the fatal fire/ 9
When Palamon heard this, he look'd askance :
He gave a fierce and a despiteful glance,
And, pale as ashes, when the flame's away, 310
" What ! say'st thou this in earnest or in play ?"
" In earnest," quoth Arcite, " and true as day :
God help me ! I but little lust to play."
27 the knight's tale.
This PalamoD 'gan knit his brow in ire ;
" Small honour then," said he, " shalt thou acquire,
" To be to me a traitor, and untrue,
" That am thy cousin, and thy brother too ;
" As we have sworn, and deeply have we sworn,
" Each to the other, rather to be borne
" Into the pain and penalty of death, 320
" While yet we shall be heirs of balmy breath,
" Than either shall the other ought gainsay,
" Or hinder, or in love or other way :
" No, not in any case, my brother dear :
" We are compact and knit, while yet we shall be here. '
" That thou, Arcite, should'st truly further me,
" In every case, as I should further thee,
" This was thy oath, and mine too was the same :
" Thou neither can'st deny it, nor reclaim.
" Thou of my counsel art, and must be so ; 330
"And would'st thou now be false, and play the foe,
"" And think to love the lady, whom I love,
" And serve, bear witness the great eye above I
" And ever shall both love and serve, Hill-death
" Shall strike my heartland rob me of my breath ?"
THE KNIGHT'S TALE. 33
'* Bat this thou shalt not do, thou false Arcite,
'* Thou shalt not love her, nor by day nor night ;
c< I lov'd her first, and told thee of my woe,
*' As to my brother and my counsel, so
" Tbou'rt sworn to help me, as a faithful knight, 340
"If any way it lie within thy might,
" Else art thou false* and I will thee requite.
Him Arcite answer' d in as proud a tone,
" Have back thy words, the falsehood is thy own :
" I tell thee thou art false, and utterly ;
"I lov'd her first : for what though thou did'st see
" Her beauty before roe, thou did'st not know,
" Woman or Goddess* which she were, e'en now :
" This is mere holy passion, which we pay
" To heavenly things* that live above the day ; SftO
" Love to a creature mine ; which bade me say
** That, which I saw, to thee this very morn*
" As to my cousin and my brother sworn,
" But, be it other ; yet there is a saw,
" An old clerk's proverb, ' love had never law' ;
** Is never over-rol'd, I tell to thee,
" Nor will admit appeal from its decree ;
*' Love always was an air-like sovereignty :
■^
24 THE KNIGHT'S TALE;
" A man most needs love in despite of his head ;
" He may not fly it, though he should he dead : 360
" Maid, widow, or wife ; all one ; his doom is read."
" And, eke, it is not likely, 'till thou die,
*' Thou shall be in her grace; no more shall I :
" For, well thou know'st, no gold our ransom -pays,
" To prison we are damn'd for all our days."
" We strive, as did the two hounds for the bone ;
41 They fought all day, and yet their gain was none :
"There came a kite* the while they were so wroth,
" And bore away the hone, betwixt them both. [370
" And therefore at the king's court, my good brother,
" Each for himself, for law there is no other ;
" Love, if thou will ; for 1 love, and I shall ;
" And, soothly, my dear brother this is all ;
" Here in this prison we must both remain,
" And bear with our good lot : the thing is plain."
Great was the strife, and long betwixt them two ;
Which, had I leisure, I would tell to you.
Now to my tale ; It happen' d on a day.
(I mean to tell it shortly, as I may ;)
»■»■»"»■
toe knight's tale. .25
Perithous, a duke of mighty state, 380-
>Vho to duke Theseus was the dear co-mate,
And had been, with a love, that did surpass,
Since they were little children on the grass,
And play'd together in their infancy,
Came now to Athens, his dear friend to see,
To dwell with him, as he was wont to do,
For in this world no man he loved so :
And Theseus lov'd him tenderly again ;
A love, that broke of hell the fatal chain :
For old books tell us, when Perithous died, 390
And did with Pluto in dark night abide,
His dear co-mate, (ah ! what could love do more ?)
Went down, and. sought him on that dismal shore.
Now to my story,, as I said before :
Perithous lov'd Arcite, and well had known
From year to year at Thebes, since overthrown ;
And, at his asking, without fee at all/
The kind duke Theseus let him out of thrall,
Fceely to go to any laud whate'er,
But with such terms, as I shall now declare; 400
B
l
26 TAB KNIGHT'S TALE.
This was the bargain, that duke Theseus tirade;
And sternly meant in all to be obey'd ;
That if Arcita, that unhappy knight,
Ever in all his life, by day or night,
A moment should be fouud in Theseus' land.
And he were caught, the very law should stand,
That the keen sword should make his head to fly,
There was no saying law or remedy,
His leave he takes, and homeward is withdrawn ;
Let him beware ; his neck is in the pawn. 410
How great a sorrow suffers ndw Arcite I
He feels the very death his heart to smite: •
He weepeth, waileth, crietb piteously,
To slay himself he waiteth privily,
He saith, " Alas ! the mother that me bore !
" Now is my prison far worse than before, •
" Now is my fate eternally to dwell
" Not only in purgation, but in hell.
" Ah ! had I never duke Perithous known,
" Then had I never from duke Theseus gone, 420
" But, fetter'd in his prison, even so,
" Then had I been in bliss, and not in woe ;
J*
i i
•
I i
THE KNIGHT'S TALE. &f
" That beauteous angel merely hut to see,
" That angel, whom I love, had been to roe
" Enough of grace and of felicity."
" O my dear cousin, Falamon»" . said ke,
" That hath in this event the victory,
" In ward and prison blissfully ke lies,
"In prison ? surely no ; in Paradise :
*' Fortune for him hath thrown the happy dice : 430
" He has the sight, of her, while I must moan
" Her loss and absence, wretched and alone.
" Thou Palaraon, that art, I know, a knight
" Worthy and able, living, in her sight,
" By some-great chance, since fortune still is fickle,
" May 'st cut. the swelling harvest with thy sickle,
" Thou thy desire perhaps in time may'st have,
'* But I, tbat am but bondsman to the grave,
" Exil'd and barren. of all hope and grace, .
" And in so great despair, that through all space, 4^0
«* There is nor earth, nor water, fire, nor air,
" Nor creature, that is made of them, can bear
c< Or health, or comfort to my wretched heart,
" I ought to die, this only is myvpart,
b2
!B THEIN16HTI TALE;
' In want of hope, and absolute despair,
' My life, my love, my pleasure perish' d are !"
' Alas! why should unhappy men complain
' Of God, and fortune, crying out in vaiu,
' That they provide them ill, whose care is wise,
' And yieldetfa them full oft, in many a guise,
' Far better than they can themselves devise ?
' Some man deaireth gold, and finds his gain
-' Murder, or sickness bringeth in it's train ;
' And some would out of his dark prison fain,
' That in his house is of his own men slain,
1 Infinite harms in this: we not discern
' The thing we pray for, but have yet to learn.
'' We fare as one, as drunk as any mouse;
" A drunken man can tell he hath a boose,
■' But how to find the way, which leads to it,
" That is a nutter far beyond bis wit;
" And slippery to a drunken man the way :
" So fare we in this world, and falsely pray."
" We look for ever for felicity,
" But, to speak rightly, in sincerity,
THE KNIGHTS TALE. 29
" Go wrong, full oft; thus all may say, anid I,
" Above them all, may say it especially :
" That had a great opinion, and suppos'd,
" If in my prison I were Dot enclos'd,
"". Then had I been in joy and perfect health ;
" Lo, here 1 am, an exile from my wealth. 470
* ' Since that I may not see you, Emily,
" lam but dead : there is no remedy,"
On th' other side the thrall'd knight, Palamoit,
Perceiving from his prison Areite gone,
Such sorrow, makes, that the great tower and skies
Resounded with his yelling and his cries :
The fetters, wherein his great shins were set,
Were with his bitter and his salt tears wet.
" Alas !" said he, V Arcita, cousin mine, 460
" Of all our strife, God knows, the fruit is thine,
"Thou walk'st in Thebes at large, as free as air,
" And of my woe thou takeat little care ;
" Thou may'st, since thou art manly and art wise,
•' Make all our kindred in thy quarrel rise,
3Q . the knight's tale.
" And make a war so sharp upon this land,
" That, or by fight or treaty, out of hand
'* Thou mays'! have her thy lady and thy wife,
"For whom I here must perish from the life ^
" For it is possible, since thou art free, 490
\* And out of prison, and at liberty,
" And art a lord, to put in- force thy rage ;
" Unlike to me, that starve here in a cage,
" For I may weep and wail, the while I live,
" With all the woe, that prison may me give,
" With all the pain, too, that from love can flow,
" Who doubles all my torment and my woe."
Therewith the fire of jealousy upstart
Within his breast, and caught him by the heart ;
So madly, that he like was, to behold, 500
The box tree, or the ashes' dead and cold :
He cried, " Ye cruel Gods, that rule the world,
" And bind it with eternal word, and into being 1 hurl'd,
<s Your word eternal, writ on adamant,
" Your parliament and everlasting grant,
" What is mankind, that ye him more behold,
" Than is the sheep, that lieth in the foldT
it
THE KNIGHT'S TADE. 31
'• For slain is man, right as another beast,
" And dwelleth too in prison and arrest, <
Sickness he bath, and great adversity, 510
And yet oft times h6 may not guilty be.
What government is this, that, prescient,
Yet without guilt torments the innocent ?
" This makes my penance more : for holy awe
" Of God compels men to observe his law,
" To rein his passions, and to curb his will,
" Whereas a beast may all his lust fulfill :
" And, when a beast is dead, he bath no pain ;
" But man after his death must weep and plain,
" Though in this world he have but care and woe, 520
" And yet th' event and judgment may be so."
CC
I leave it to divines ; but I perceive
' c The world throughout it's bounds to pine and grieve ;
A serpent, or a thief, alas ! 1 see,
That many a true man hath done injury,
Wander at large, and turn him where he list,
" But I through Saturn am in prison trist ;
" Aye, and through Juno, jealous, and e'en mad,
«' Whose penal indignation, fierce and sad,
32 the knight's tale.
" Hath well nigh lost the blood of Thebes entire, 530
" And wasted bis wide walls with sword and fire :
u Aye, and fell Venus stabs me mortally,
" For fear of Arcite, and for jealousy."
Now leave I Palamon in ward to dwell j
And of Arcita more I will yon tell.
Summer is gone, and darkfol nights are long.
And double-wise encrease the anguish strong
Both of the lover and the prisoner ;
I know not whose estate were woefuller.
For, to speak brief, to prison Palamon 540
Perpetually is damn'd, to lie alone,
In chains and fetters, till he shall be dead :
And Arcite is exil'd, at pawn of head,
For evermore out of that land to be,
And nevermore his Emily to see.
Tell me, ye lovers, make the case your own,
Who hath the worse, Arcite or Palamon ?
The one may see his lady day by day,
But must in prison wear his life away ;
The other, where he lists, may ride or go, 550
But never shall behold his lovely foe :
*he knight's tale. S3
Solve me this problem, lovers; for ye can :
For I pursue my taje as 1 began.
After Arcita had in Thebes arriv'd,
The loss of Emily he scarce surviv'd,
Full oft a day he swoon'd, and often cried " Ah me !
" My lovely lady I no more shall see ;
" Where art thou gone, divinest Emily ?"
And, to conclude his woe, it all surpast,
That is, or may be, while the world may last : 560
There never liv'd a creature so undone,
His sleep, bis meat, his drink is from him gone,
Lean did he wax, and dry as any shaft,
At nothing in this world he ever laugh'd,
Hollow his eye, and grisly to behold,
Yellow his ljue, and pale as ashes cold,
And solitary ever and alone,
And wailing all the night, and making moan,
And, if he heard or song or instrument,
Then would he weep, nor any .could prevent : 570
So feeble were his spirits, and so low,
So alter'd in the .change, no man could know
His speech, nor voice, whoever heard him speak :
He was distract, and desolate, and weak.
'34 THE KNIGHT'S TAfcE.
And in his looks, for all the world, appear'd
Not only as by Cupid's iron sear'd,
Not only like the lover's malady,
But rather like the strange insanity,
Of melancholy gender'd; that doth dwelt,
Beside his head, in his fantastick cell. 580
Most needed he, indeed, the mind's physician,
In habit so displaced and disposition,
So altogether turned upside-down,
From being a man of wisdom and renown,
Of this most woeful lover, of Arcite,
What need say more, to paint his anguish right ?
When Arcite had eadur'd, a year or two,
This cruel torment and this pain and woe,
At Thebes, in his own land, as I have said,
Upon a night in deep sleep he was laid, 500
And thougfct the winged God, swift Mercury,
Before him stood, and bade him not to die :
His sleepy wand be bore, And high in air,
And had a hat upon his golden to air ;
Arrayed was the God, as fee took keep,
When wakeful Argus drowned lay in sleep.
■THE KNIGHT'S TALE.
And said him thus " To Athens shalt thou go,
" There fate prepares for thee an end of woe."
And, with that word, Arcite awoke, and started
From off the bed, (despair had now departed;)
Said he, " To Athens right now will I fare,
" Whatever be my smart, if taken there,
" No dread of death shall keep me from her sight,
" In whom I live, and only have delight ;
" Before her face I heed it not to die ;
" I come to thee, divinest Emily :"
And straight a mirror caught be in his hand,
And the great change in all his colour scann'd,
And saw a visage other than his own,
Pale, wan, and waste, as marble or as stone ; (
And right anon it came into his mind,
Who look'd upon that face must needs be blind,
'Twas so disflgnr'd by his malady,
The face of Arcite shone not to the eye.
Well might he live, by only living low;
And none in Athens Arcite ever know ;
r
36 THE KNIGHT 1 * TALE.
In Athens, but in bumble state, might stay,
And see his lady even day by day ;
Arcite not stay'd, but changed his array ;
As a poor labourer clad him, and alone, 620
Save only with a squire, to whom was known
His mind and fortunes, is to Athens gone ;
The squire was clad too in a poor array ;
And forth they travell'd by the nearest way*
Now come to Athens, at the ducal gate,
Behold, the knight and his companion wait :
Arcita offer'd, with a look of awe,
Whatever be was fold to drag and draw ;
And, to speak brief, a chamberlain, who saw,
A chamberlain of Emily, and wise, 630
The value of the man with much surprise,
How he could hew the wood, and water bear,
How young and mighty for the service there,
For surely he was strong, and great of bone,
Invested him with service, where, unknown,
Morning and evening oft he gaz'd his soul upon.
A year or two he liv'd in this delight,
A chamber page of Emily the bright
thb height's talc. &J
And Philostrate he told them was his name :
So gentle was he and devoid of blame, 640
That through all Athens there went forth his name :
No, never in the court, of that degree,
Serv'd there a man so well belov'd as he.
And all men said, 'twere love and charity
In Theseus, to exalt his low degree ;
And in a service of fair honour place
A man, whose general virtues would the favour grace.
And thus within a while his name is sprung
Both of his deeds, and of his gentle tongue ;
That Theseus hath resolv'd to raise him higher, 650
And of his chamber made him an esquire,
And gave him gold, the honour to maintain :
Also his Theban rents brought him in gain ;
Which men from year to year full privily
Brought him from Thebes : and wise and wittily,.
Not like an upstart fool, he spent the same*
That no man wonder' d how. his riches came*
And three years in this wise himself he bare,
Of such approval both m peace. and war,
No man is dearer to the gentle duke : . . 660
I leave him in this bliss ; .and now 1 look .
SB THE KNIGHT'S TALE.
On Palamon, of any hope forsook.
1b prison murky, horrible, and strong,
Hatb groaned Palamon this seven year long ;
By love tormented and captivity,
A double sorrow and calamity :
Who ever felt them painfully as he ?
Love with his fatal fire distracts him so,
that mad out of his wits he goes for woe ;
And add to this, he is a prisoner, 670
'Till he shall die, not only for a year.
AU men may think his grief, but none can say •
I therefore pass it lightly, as I may :
It fell now in the seventh year, in May,
Upon the third night, as the old books say,
That tell this story in a plainer way,
Whether it were by chance or destiny,
As when a thing is fated, it shall be,
Soon after midnight Palamon, by aid
Of a kind friend, his way from prison made.
And flies the city fast as he may go :
For he had drog'd the tippling jailer so
THE KNIGHt's TALE.
With a deep cop of spic'd and honied wine,
And Theban opium, and narcoticks fine,
That all the night, however men him shake,
The jailer slept, nor could he aught awake :
He flies tbe city fastly aa he ma;.
The night was short, and very near the day,
Unless he would be slain, be needs must hide,
'And therefore to a grove, that grew beside,
Palamon stalk'd, but with a fearful foot :
Day, promising to dawn, did not his danger suit.
He meant him in that grove to hide all day,
And in the night to fly to Thebes away,
For ire and vengeance, his kind friends to pray,
To.wake a war on Theseus, and his lite
Briefly to lose in the uncertain strife,
Or win and make fresh Emily bis wife.
This was the whole of his intention plain.
And now I turn me to Arcile again,
That little wilt how neighbour was his care.
Till slippery fortune brought bim in the snare.
The busy lark, tbe messenger of day,
Saluteth in her song tbe morrow gray,
40 THE KNIGHT^ TALE,
And fiery Phoebus riseth up so bright,
That all the orient laugheth of the sight,
And drieth .with the beams, each grove received,
The silver drops light hanging on the leaves :
And Arcite, like a happy prodigal,
In Theseus' royal court squire principal, 710
is risen, and looketh on the merry day ;'
And, to observe his duty to the May,
Rememb'ring too the point of bis desire,
He on his courser, starting as the fire,
Is ridden to the fields, to joy and play,
Out of the court a mile or two away,
And to the grove, of which before I told,
Perhaps by chance, his way began to hold,
To make him of the groves a garland bright,
Were it of woodbine, or of hawthorn light, 720
For both are budding greenly to the sight,
And loud he carol'd in the bright sun-shine :
May, with thy flowers and green, for both are thine,
Right welcome.be thou May, thou fair fresh May,
" I hope some green to get here for thy day ;"
«
THE KNIGHT'S. TALE. 41
And from bis courser, with a lusty heart,
The knight into the gro?e full hastily did Start,
And in a path he roamed up and down,
Where, by effect of chance, this Palamon
Was in a bush, and couched secretly, 730
For sore affrighted of his death was he.
He knew not 'twas Arcite, and little thought
It could be he, nor had believed it aught :
But sooth was said, gone since are many years,
The field hath eyes, and the green wood hath ears.
'Tia meet, the wise his actions justly syray,
These unset meetings meet us all the day.
Full little thought Arcita his co-mate,
And Theban cousin in the hawthorn sate,
But in the bush he sate, and sate full still. 740
When that Arcite had roamed all his fill,
And sung the lusty roundel lustily,
Into a study fell he suddenly,
As still these lovers, stung with foolish fires,
Are now a-top, and now down in the briers,
Now up, now down, as bucket in a well ;
Very like Friday, if the truth 1 tell ;
Whereon it shineth now, and now it rainetb fast :
E'en so can fickle Venus overcast
4$ THE KNIOHT'8 TALE.
Her people's hearts, as she a'ercasts her day, 750
Her fickle day, and changes their array,
And now lifts ,ap with hope, now. sinks them with
dismay;
ieMom is Friday like the rest o'th' week.
Bat this to lovers is mere heathen Greek.
When Arcite's song was done, he 'gan to sigh,
And threw, him on a bank, "Thou deity,
" Terrible Juno," said the knight, " bow long
" Wilt thou be against Thebes so fierce and strong ?
M How long, dread Goddess, wilt thou wage th&war
11 Against my native state* and put a bar 760
11 To all the hopes, that in. my bosom are ? ^ .
M Ah ! that I e'er was born ! the royal seed
" Of Cadmus, and Amphion now doth bleed!
11 Cadmus, who laid great Thebes* foundation stone,
11 And in that city builded first the throne,
*' Was in that city the first crowned king,
" From his great blood and royal line 1 spring,
11 A branch unhappy of the royal stock,
11 Whom fortune now, a caHive wretch, doth mock.
11 E'en him, that is my mortal enemy, 770
41 (Can Juno do me sharper penalty ?)
THE knight'* tale. 43
'« E'en him a squire I serve* and forfeit fame ;
" But Juno helps me to a greater blame ; -
" She even robs me 06 my very name.
" I, that was once Arcite, a noble knight,
" Am now Philostrate, hardly worth a mite*
" Ah, thou fell Mars, and JunoJeller still, 4
*' Our bleeding lineage falls before your will':
" All are cast down, or dead, save me alone, {
And that unhappy prisoner* Fakffion* 780
Him Theseus martyrs in a prison close ;
" And utterly to slay me, I suppose*
Love hath his fiery dart so blazingly
Struck through my faithftd heart, that I shall die
* * Of the keen airow and. the destiny
" Jove shapM* when I in infant's shirt did lie ;
" You slay me with your eyes, O Emily,
" You are the only cause that I shall die *
" Of all the remnant of my other care,
" I do not set the value of a tare, 790
" So that I could your charming pleasure frame.**
And o'er him then a dewy trembling came,
A tingling of the ears, and flying sight ;
Flat fell he in the wood, and lay in night :
ft
i*
THE KNIGHTS TALE.
As a tall poplar, that on Ida's side
'it?, woodman's suel doth from its roots divide.
Upstarted Palamon, aa swift as fire,
Death-pale as ashes, quaking e'en with ire,
With ire and fury for Arcita'a tale.
No ghost of warder' it man e'er looked so pale, 800
Even he quaked, like an aspen tree,
Which the North wind doth vex continually ;
Apd felt a cold sword suddenly to glide
Through all his heart, and gasping he replied,
Staring as he were mad, " Thou wicked wretch,
" Whence hut from hell did'st thou thy purpose fetch ?
" False Arcite, thou art caught ! ha ! ha! is it so ?
" Thou lov'st my lady, and woold'st play the foe,
" Although we are of the same counsel sworn,
" Thou perjurer 1 and of two sisters born, 810
" What 1 thou has cbang'd thy name, to be more dear ?
" And hast befool'd the duke of Athens here ?
." Awake, thou wretch ! I howl it in thy ear,
" I will be dead, or else thyself shall die ;
" Thou shall not love my lady, Emily ;
" But I will love her ; and none else below :
" For I am Palamon, thy mortal foe,
the knight's tale; 4£
" And though I have no weapon to bestead,
* c But by heaven's grace am oat of prison fled,
«« Yet for all that I not a whit thee dread : 820
" Take now thy choice, this moment thou shalt die,
" Or swear thou wilt not love my Emily :
" Swear, swear, thou traitor ! for thou shalt not fly,
** Swear, wilt thou swear?"
This bowling brought to light
And life the sleeping spirit of Arcite ;
He pal*d to view his foeman as he roar'd ;
Fierce as a lion, pull'd he out his sword,
And said, "By him, who ever reigns above,
" Wert thou not sick, and even mad for love,
" And hast besides no weapon in this place, 830
" Never from out this forest should'st thou pace,
" That should'st thou not, but by my hand here die ;
" And for that oath of counsel, I reply,
" It touches not my separate liberty :
" No, I will serve her, maugre all thy might,
" But, since thou art a brave and gentle knight,
** And would's contest her by the dint of sword,
" Here, by my troth, I will not fail my word,
46 the kniqht's tale.
" No man shall know it, by to*morrow's light .
" Here will I be, as I am realty knight, 840
"And bring for both enongh of armory,
" Choose thou the best, and leave the worst for me,
" And meat and drink this night too will I bring,
"And clothes and bedding; if thou prove the king,
" And win my lady in the bloody coarse,
" And slay me in this wood ; why then, perforce,
" This wood wherein I am, I give her thee ;
" Take her, if wilt : the lady is thy fee."
And answered Palamon, " I grant it thee."
They left each other : 'till the morrow dawn, 850
Now each of them hath put his faith in pawn.
O Cupid, ont of charity entire !
O reign, that never fellow wonld'st desire,
Nor bear, if had ! fh* old saw the truth doth rip,
Nor love nor rule will bear with fellowship ;
And Palamon and Arcite find it true.
The knights have parted, lacking e'en adieu :
Arcite to Athens now is rid away,
And on the morn, or ere the peep of day,
.J
THE KNIGHT'g TAtE. . 47
Two suits of armour prrvately prepar'd, 860
Both meet and hardy the keen sword to ward.
To arm the battle in the equal field ;
Helm, coat, and cuishes, greaves, sword, spear, and shield
Upon his coarser piled up were borne,
And forth he rid, alone as he were born.
Forth to the grove, as time and place were set :
And Palamun and Arcjte now are met.
Then 'gan to change the colour in their face,
Right as the hunter in the realm of Thrace,
That at a gap doth stand, aud spear doth bear, 870
When hunted is the lion, or the bear,
And heareth him come rushing through the wood,
And break the leafy boughs in angry mood.
Gnashing and foaming, the fell sylvan brood !
And thinks here comes my mortal enemy.
There is no choice, he oiust be dead or I,
For either I must slay him at the gap :
Or be slay me, if I shall have mishap :
So did they fare in changing of their hoe,
So soon as each of them the other knew, 880
No good day, no salute, no prologue : straight
Each armM the other, to encounter fate.
:"
*8 THE KNIGHT * TALE.
Friendly as brothers ; and with sharp spear strong
Foin'd at each other, wondrous fierce and long.
Thou tnigb'st have thought this Palamon had been,
A raging lion in the angry scene :
Aye, and a crnel tyger too Arcite :
As wild boars they began together smite,
That froth as white as foam for raging ire :
They fought to the ancle up in blood, and higher ; 890
And ev'ry moment made their rage more fell :
Let them fight on : I will of Theseus tell.
The destiny, the general minister,
That in the world, and over all doth stir,
And puts into mere act, and cannot err,
The providence, which God has seen before,
So strong and fatal is, that though men swore
Such thing shall never be, nor never can,
Yea though all men should swear it, in a spaa,
As unexpected as a summer's cloud, 900
Speaking in thunder to our senses loud,
That falleth out, and dolh in act appear,
Which shall not fall again a thousand year.
" This shall be : that shall not be :" what is this i
Han, let him think : bat God the actor is.
THE KNIGHT'S TALE. - 49
< •
For certainly our appetites we prove,
Be it of war, or peace, or hate, or love,
All rul'd and governed by the sight above.
I instance Theseus, in whom. passion lay
To hunt the great hart in the flow'ry - May ; 910
Passion so great, that not the golden ray
He suffer'd on his drowsy bed to play :
No : he is clad, and ready for to ride
Through the green leafy woods, with all th' Athenian pride,
With hound, and horn, and company beside :
For in his hunting hath he such delight,
That it is all his joy and appetite.
To bane the great bart in the sylvan scene ;
For after Mars, Diana is his queen.
Clear was the day, and bright the morning, flow'd* 920
In joy and bliss the duke of Athens rode*
Ipolit' by his side, the lovely queen,
And Emily, bedecked all in green :
A hunting they rode royally, and move
Stately and silent to a neighbour grove,
In which men told them, that there lodg'd a hart :
The jolly duke, to wake him to a start*
50 THE KfrKtHT'ff TAE.E.
Sent in the hunters, and himself he rode
To a green plain, that neighbour wasaa4 broad,
Where the sharp plough Jiad never broken. sward, 980
For there the hart taut wont to shew then playv •
And over a brook; and forward on the way.
The duke will hare a course at him, or two,
With hounds, like Zephyr, flying through the dew,
Such hounds as gave him pleasure to command,
Born of cbaste's Dian's breed, and brought up by his
hand.
And when this duke was come now to the stand,
Under the sun he look'd, and there anon -
He plainly saw: Arcite and Pdtamon.
Madly they fought, as two balk in a mead ; - 040
The bright swords flashing made their bodies bleed :
So hideously they 'Struck, that the least stroke
Upon the sparkling steal would fell an oak :
like fire, or frenzy the mad due* btasM,
Even the air was with- Hie war amaz'd,
And the Athenian duke upon the combat gaz'd :
He knew not who they were; be spur'd his hotfse,
And headlong o'er the^greefthe urgM* His course, '
i i
THE K SIGHT VtAJ*B. 51
He smote his horse with, spurs,*
And at a start he was betwixt them two, 050
Out went his sword, and manly cried he, " Ho 1"
" No more : oh pain of losing of your head :
" By mighty Mars he forthwith shall be dead,
" That in my presence dares to strike a stroke :
«• What men are. ye? what hardy-minded folk,
" That, as in royal lists, are fighting here,
" Without a judge or other officer?
" What men ate ye?"
Said Palamon, " I'll tell ye, who we be :
" What need of many words ? we merit death ; 960
" two woeful wretches, who disdain our breath;
" With our own lives encamber'd ; let us diet
" Sir, we are those, who* hate you mortally.
" And, as you are a rightful jodge and lord, 3
Give us the sharp-edg'd justice of the sword.
For in your mercy we disdain to lie :
•• And slay me first for holy charity, '
But slay my fellow equally with me,
t<
• These half lines are not negligently left, out made of set purpose, as
Spenser has used them in the * Faerie Queene."
52 THE KNIGHT'8 TALE.
<c
Or slay him first, for though you think not so,
" This is Arcita, thy mere mortal foe, 970
" That from thy land is banish'd on his head,
" For which he hath deserved to be dead :
" For this is he, that came unto thy gate*
" And said, and false, his name was Philostrate.
" Thus hath he mocked thee this many a year*
" And thou hast made him thy chief squire dear :
" This very man, I tell thee not a lie,
" Burns, like the fire, with lo?e of Emily."
" For since the day is come, that I shall die,
" 1 plainly will confess ; reserve is none ; 980
'• I am the self-same woeful Palamon, ,
" That has thy prison broke; now dost thou know ? .
" Yes, I am Palamon* thy mortal foe ;
" I am ; and love so Emily the bright,
" That 1 would cjie with transport in her sight.
" Therefore thy judgment for my death I tax,
" But slay my fellow with the self -same axe :
" Slay both, who both have purchased to be slain."
Puke Theseus made no pause, but said again,
THB KNIGHT'S TALE; 53
" Here is a short conclusion ; yon have said ; 900
" And your own mouth condemns yon to be dead":
" Yonr very words the penalty allow ;
" There shall be no need of the prison now :
'< You shall be dead by Mars." .
Bat then the qneen
Had lightly followed Theseus to the scene :
Her heart began to bleed, as women will,
Who' scant abide the weapon, that shall kill ;
Ipolit' wept, and so did Emily,
And all the ladies of the company.
Great pity and rath it was, as thought them all, 1000
That such a chance should two fair knights befall,
For gentlemen they were,' of great estate,
And only for mere love was the debate :
They saw their bloody wounds both great and wide ;
And all the ladies for their pardon cried :
" Have mercy, my dread lord, upon us all,
" Poor feeble women, that for pity call :"
And down upon their knees they 'gan to fall,
And would have kiss'd the duke's feet, as he stood :
'Till at the last abated was his mood ; 1010
r
0* THE KRIGHT'i -TABE.
Fbr pity soon is born in gentle heart;
And though for ire he qoak'd, and stood-apsst
From all their prayer at first, ho shortly weigh'd
The cause and trespass, and though anger sway' d
To hold them guilty, reason he obey'd,
And reason an excuse for all their error made :
As thus ; be rightly thought, that every man
Will help himself in lore, far as he can •
And every man, however strict the guard,
Will strive to loose his body from the ward ;
And he bad pity too on women's tears.
For they all wept, and panted with their fears,
And in his gentle heart thought presently,
And softly said onto himself, "Fie, fie
" Upon a lord, (list will no mercy know, .
" But both in word and deed shall bold bim so,
" As a gaunt lion, and make fto difference,
" Between the man, that is ih penitence, ■■•
" And him, that will maintain what he began,
" And live and die, a proud despiteful m*n.
*« That lord of wisdom littie hath desoriedv -.
" Who cannot for a" case, like this, provide/
** Bit weighs, as one, humility, and pride." ;
TB* KNiGHtVi'AI.l'.: 55
And shortly; When hla'iw) had pflae'd away,
As ihnnder passes froin the noon-tide day,
The duke bok'd up with eheerfol countenance,
And spake these- words, and made this ordinance,
With a load voice :
" Ah benedieite !
" The God Of lore, how great a God is he !
** How mighty in his strength ! against his power 1040
■' No obstacles have force at any : honr:
" His miracles declare him for a God:
" In every coaat he maketh hi* abode ;
" lu every heart he acteth what he pleases;
" His power is perfect, and his realm ne'er 1 ceases."
" Lo, here this Arcite and this Fatamon,
" That from my prison .were entirely gone, .
<* And might have faVd in Thebes,, and royally,
•« And know I am their mortal enemy, .
'* And that their death within my power lies, 1050
" And yet ha* lore, despite their very eyes,
" Bronghttnenbothhithertaffliagrovetodie:
" Now is not this & splendid foolery ?
56 THE KNIGHT'fl tale.
" Shall any be call'd fools, but they who love ?
" Behold, for God's sake, who still reigns above,
" See how they bleed; are they not well array'd ?
" Thus hath the God of love their service paid :
" Their fee and wages is but blood and death,
"And yet in praising love they waste their breath,
" And think themselves most wise, whatever befall,106O
" Who serve Dan Gnpid, and maintain his thrall :
" And yet this is the best game of it aD,
" That she, for whom they have this jollity,
" Con'd them no better thanks than I, parde :
" She knew no more of all of this hot fare,
" By Jove, than knew a cuckoo or a hare.
" But all must once be tried, or hot or cold :
" A man mast be a fool once, young or old :
" I know it by myself: 'tis long ago ;
" For in my time I was a suitor too : 1070
" And therefore having tasted lover's pains,
" And knowing well how manhood it constrains,
" As he, that hath been often caught i'th' snare,
" This trespass wholly I forgive, and spare
" Your lives, at the queen's asking, who kneels here,
" And Emily's soft tears, my sister clear :
THE KNIGHTS T ALB.
" Bat ye shall swear to me, nor night nor day,!
" To war my country, nor my men to slay;
" Bat be my friends in every way you may :
" And I forgive yon all your fault this day."
And fair and well they swore, as he reqnir'd,
And bolder then, and by free love inspir'd.
His loving grace and mercy they desir'd :
And grace and mercy gave the gentle duke.
" Or to your state, or royal line to look,
" Albeit she were a princes or a queen,
" Ye were entitled, it is clearly seen,
" When God shall please that either of yon wed,
" To take the greatest lady to your bed.
" I speak now for my sister Emily,
" The lovely cause of strife and jealousy ;
" To marry both at once there is no way,
" Although ye fight until the judgment-day :
" My sister Emily may not wed both ;
" Ye know it well : and, therefore, on my troth,
" One of yon two, take it in joy or grief,
'* He must go piping in an ivy leaf.
m
4>Hfc KfffGITT'fl TILE.
" For, after air your jealous rage and ire,
" Bat one of you, young tnen, can have his 7 great desire :
" Therefore I wlH an finance enact ; 1100
" To put your destiny' in shape and act :
" Hearken you both :"
44 My will is this; that each of you shall go,
" No ransom shall he give, no peril know,
" Wherever he shall please, and have no fear,
« And this day fifty weeks again be here,
" And bring with him a hundred knights in mail,
" Arm'd at all points in battle to prevail :
" Then fight it ott, and; as I am a knight,
" What party ever shall possess the might ' 1110
45 To slay the other hundred, or to drive
" Out of the lists, he Emily *h*all wive ;
" For whom that hundred have so bravely' fought :
" This is my will, ahd'substance of my thought.* *
" The lists in this place shall I make: and may
" God on my soVil, upon the after day,
44 Have without fail so much of prty and ruth,
44 As I shall be a judge of equal truth :
tke rwight's TALE. 59
" There shall be one of yoo, or dead, or ta'an :
" Hearken ye men ; my sentence is said plain : 1120
" Consider, and declare year mind '. this way,
" And only this, can ravel op the fray."
Who now bnt Palamon looks Hght and fair !
Who bat Arcita springs up in the air,
For very joy ? and all-the company
Prais'd with high voice the kingly clemency ;
And thanked him with all their might of heart.
Who in this strife had ta'es so noble a part;
And fell npon their: knees, and said, " long live (1130
" The dnke, who can these foreign knights forgive ;"
And both the Thebans often prais'd his name.
And with good nope, and blither than they came,
Their hearts o'ef-ronning with their several joy,
The Thebans took their leave 1 , and 'gan employ
Both spur and wand : anS like the fire they ride
To Thebes ; whose old walls now are wasted wide.
I should be call'd a man of negligence.
If I forgot to reckon the expense
60
THE KNIGHT'S TALC.
By Theseus made, in framing of the place,
Wherein the knigfats shall combat, by his* giace: 1140
Id sll the world I say it, and aver,
There is not such another theatre.
That very day the noble work began,
And through all coasts the glory of it ran.
The circuit was a perfect mile about,
Walled of stone, and ditched all without ;
The space as round as by a compass drawn ;
And, from the level floor-way of the lawn,
It rose majestick sixty paces high
Of marble steps, to seat the company : 1150
One rank offended not the other's eye.
Eastward, there stood a gate of marble white .-
Another, westward, laughed to the sight,
Marble the same, and plac'd right opposite.
And, to be brief, upon the earth a place
Was ne'er so perfect, in so little space :
For in the land of Athens there was none,
Who knew the builder's craft of oak, or stone ;
Or had the science of geometry,
Or fine arithmetic, to measure by; 1160
*^I^^W^W^^^^F^i^PPBM^^»W»^^*B»i^«^M»lUUJ
THE KNIGHT'S TALE. 61
Or could draw colours, or carve images ;
But he might have, according to degrees,
Of the Duke Theseus, noble be his name !
Wages and meat, the theatre to frame.
And then, for rite and sacrifice, he made
Upon the Eastern gate, and finely laid
A lovely chapel, and an altar fair,
To which yon mounted by a pleasant stair,
To worship Venus, queen of pity, there.
And, in the West, another did he frame, 1170
To worship Mars, the king of bloody game,
Of bruising battles, and of groaning war :
The gold, that paid it, even fill'd a car. .
And to the North, upon the tow'red wall,
Of alabaster, white, and coral red withall,
A chapel framed he, beautiful to see,
To worship Dian, and her chastity :
These things made Theseus in his majesty.
But shall I then forget, (I will not sure .)
The noble earring. ? and the portraiture ? 1180
62 THE knight's tale.
The shape ? the countenance ? that ye may see
Whatever had been work'd within the chapels three.
First, in the chapel of the Paphian queen,
Wrought on the wall, there may by you be seen,
A sight indeed foil piteous to behold,
The broken sleep ; and the oghs deadly cold ;
The sacred tears ; the .waitings, a whole quire ;
The fiery strokes of the unrein'd desire ;
AH, that Love's servants in this life endure ;
And all the oath* their covenants assure? 1190
Pleasure; and hope; desire; faol^ianHness ;
Beauty; and youth; and purchased wantonness ;
Gold ; charms ; and foice ; and lies ; and flattery ;
And waste expense ; bnis'ness ; and jealousy,
Upon whose head a golden sun-flower band,
And the false cuckoo sate upon her hand ;
Feasts; instruments; and carols; and ripe dances ;
Lust ; and array ; and all the circumstances
Of Love ; that 1 may reckon, and reckon on
'Till the mid-summer, and yet ne'er have done ; 1200
AH these were painted the fresh wall Upon,
And more than I can tell to any one ;
THE KSICTBT'b TALE. 6$
For Mount CitharorJ was depicted Mere,
Where Venus hath her princely dwclliug fdir.
All the world glow'd with the delightful place,
The fount, eye, aotil of passion nod of grace ;
There was the garden, and the lustiness :
Be sure they not forgot the porter, Idleness ;
Nor fair Narcissus, that front lore is gone ;
Nor yet the folly of king Soromon ; 1210
Nor strength of Hercules, that fore hell up ;
Nor Circe, nor Medea's charmed cap :
Nor Tnrnas, and his hard and fiery rage ;
Nor golden Cronos in the Persian cage :
By which it may be seen, that neither gold,
Nor stronger wisdom, nor the courage bold,
Nor strength* nor art, nor beauty's powerful face
Can hold with Venus any equal pace ;
What parry in'her realm have they, who rules
The rolling worlA, and makes all people fools ; 1220
Such as these were, who in her snare were Caught,
And often cried "AW!" and nil for nought :
And these examples may' snmVe : although
Ten. thousands more may dat< from her their woe.
64 THE KNIGHT'S TALE.
The froth-born Goddess, ravishing to see,
Was naked, fleeting in the ample sea ;
And, downwards from the waist, was hid from sight
By the green waves, as any crystal bright :
A citole in her right hand softly held ;
And on her head, a type of summer, swelTd, 1230
And blush'd like fire, and like all Eden smell'd,
A garland of the rose, and a white pair
Of doves above her flickered in the air :
And her son, Cupid, stood before her feet ;
Two wings upon his shoulders, fair and fleet,
And blind as Night, as he is often seen :
A bow he bare, and arrows bright and keen.
And now to tell you, on the Westward side,
What colours the great painters did provide,
What portraiture upon the wall was spread, ' 1240
Within the temple of grim Mais the red ;
All painted was the wall, in. dismal grace,
Like to the inward of the grisly place,
Call'd the great temple of the God in Thrace,
Where Mais his sovereign mansion still doth hold
In frosty regions, and eternal cold.
the knight's tale. 65
A forest on the wall was there exprest,
In which there never wops nor man nor beast,
With knotty, knarry,. barren trees, right old,
And sharp with stubs, and hideous to. behold, 1250
Where, like the thunder, ran a rumble through,
As though a storm would, break down every bough,
And downward, and a savage hill o'er-bent,
There stood the fane of Mars armipotent ;
Wrought all of burned steel : the entrance keen
Was long, and straight, and ghastly to be seen ;
And thereout came a rage, and air, God knows, .
The gates from their great hinges heav'd and rose :
The Northern light in at the door there shone;
For window oh the massy wall was none, 1260*
Through which men might the open light discern :
The door was all of adamant eterne,
And clenched overthwart, and end-ways long,
With iron tough, and, for to make it strong,
Every great pillar of this house of war
Was tun-great, of bright iron blazing far.
There saw I first the dark imagining
Of felony, and all the compassing ;
THE KmOHlfa TALE.
The crerl ire, as red *s burning eoal ; [127©
The pick-pnne; Mid pale fear, with ghastly Mid ;
Thesmiler, with the knrfe under the ciste*
The stable* burning with the pitchy smoke ;
The treason of the mordering of the bed ;
The open war, whose wounds for ever bled ;
Contest with bloody' knife, and menace keen ;
And full of scritchihg cries the doleful scene.
The slayer of himself then saw I there,
Bis own heart-blood had bathed all his hair ;
The nail, too, driven in the skull at nighT-
The cold death' with the gaping' month upright ; 1280
Amidst of all trie Tcttiple ittte Mischance,
With great discomfort and pale countenance ;
And saw 1 Madness, laughing in his iwf; ■'
Armed Complaint; Oorery ? and fierce desire
Of fiery Outrage f in the bushes pat,
I saw the corpse of him, whose throat was cnt ;
And flow'd the crimson' Wood on slaughter's bed,
A thousand slain, and not of sickness 1 dead; "
The tyrant, with his prey from subject reft ;
The town destroy' d, and not a rafter left ; 1290
THfe SLIGHT'S TALE. 67
The burnt ships dating oil the waVte I tatW •
The hunter strangled in the wild bdar*fiiyaW;
The child, eat by the fret tlff£ sow itt cradle ;
The cook, too, scalded, maugre his long ladle;
And every mortal act in every part ;' ; •
The carter, over-ridden with his cart,
Under the wheel full low he lay adown.
The armourer was there with visage brown >
The towyer? and the smith, whose fdrnace roarM, •
To forge upon the anvil the- sharp sword : 1800
And, above all, depicted in t* tower*,
Saw I a Conquest, sitting in his power, .
And state ; but, ah 1 above Ms- crowned head
A sharp sword, banging by a subtle thread.
There Juliua Csesav's slaughter waft made plain ;
And Nero, and 'Mark Antonjr were slain ;
Albeit they were not yet bora, their death •
Was painted there, before they had their breath ;
By -menacing of Mara, who came to fate :
And there were colour' d in their true estate, 1310
As clearly as is drawn in heaven above .
Who shall be slain, or rise be dead for love*
68 THE KNIGHT^ TALE,
Suffice then one example of these old
Stories, since all of them cannot be told :
Like storms in winter they are manifold.
And Mars stood armed on an iron car,
And grimly frown'd interminable war ;
His mad eye set the bleeding towns on fire,
And stabb'd whole kingdoms in his warlike ire ^
Let kings fall down before bis iron feet. 1320
The God was clad in mail from, top to toe complete :
And:over his broad head two figures shone
Of stars, that in the books are styled, one
Paella, and one Rubeus, and display'd
One Mars direct, and one Mars retrograde :
A gaunt wolf stood before him at his feet,
With eyes of fire, and of a man he eat :
Subtle the pencil, that could draw the story,
To honour the grim God, and his wide- wasting glory. .
As nimbly as I, can, I now will haste . 1330
To cold Diana's temple, cold and chaste ;
Upon whose marble walls to let you see
What the brave painters have imagined free,
THE KNIGHT'S TALE. 69
Of hunting and of shame-fac'd chastity.
Callistope was drawn with woeful air,
With whom Diana would no longer bear,
But chang'd her from a woman to a bear :
And after she was made the pilot's star,
And twinkles in the north, and lights the sea from far :
Her son too is a star, as mien may see, 1340
Both are immortal stars, the mother and her progeny.
And there too Daphne, turned to a tree,
Daughter of Peneus ; and' Actoeon, he
Whom the queen ma<Je a hart, for haying seen
Her bathing in the brook without a screen ;
So fatal have Diana's angers been :
Ah ! his own hounds have his rough haunches torn,
And lick'd his blood, and eat him for his scorn:
Who knew him not, who struggled with his foes,
The tears big rolling down his leathern nose. 1350
And there was painted, in a further space,
In a green leafy wood, and after a fleet chase,
Fair Atalanta spearing the wild boar,
And Meleager, and full many more,
yVho in the woodlands did unhallowed go,
For which Diana wrought them care and woe.
70 TAB KNIQHT?8 TAI»K.
Many great wonders there were painted high :
But I forbear their present memory.
l's picture shall ye have complete:
She had upon a hart her lofty. seat* 1300
The small bounds running all about her feet :
And underneath her feet she had a moon;
It waxed now, but shall be waning soon;
Clothed in graudy green did her brave atatue stand,
Her arrows in a case, her bow was in herbantf :
And downwards cast her eyes, and very low.
And look'd into.cold Pluto's realm of woe :
A woman in her travail lay before;
So long was it, ere she 4er , infant bore,
Full piteously she 'gan^ucina call, . < 1370
And said,. " Help L help! for then may'st best of all"
A painter to. the life this'pi^tu.re wrouglrt;
With many a florin he the colours bought.
The lists are made ; and Theseus at his cost
Has greatly clotn'd each pillar, and each post :
The theatres and chapels who shall tell ?
When it was done, he lik'd it wond'rous well :
TJPB KNIGHT'S TALE. %X
• ' w
t*atve I then Theseus in his ripe delight :
Of Palamon I speak, and of Arcite,
The day approaches, when they shall return, 1380
Each with his hundred knights : the war shall burn
For Emily the fair: the day is come,
And with a hundred knights each travels home :
And Athens in her gates the war doth see,
Two hundred knights, and armed cap-a-jpee.
And surely it wa$ ; thought of many a man, .
That never, since the living world began,
To speak of knighthood and of honour free,
As far as God hath spread the land and sea,
So few ne'er made so noble a company. 1390- .
For every wigt^t, thjat loved chivalry,'
And would, great thanks too !. have a passing name, .,
Pray'd night and day he might be of that game :
Happy was he, on whoia election fell ;
For if to-morrow, a* ye know right well,
The breathing trumpets should make speech of war
To all the knights of all the nations far,
As this for a fair maid, wherever are
The beams of Morning, they would let no bar t
7$ THE KNIGHT^ TALE. \
Impede the spur, butto the lists away, 1400
All, each, and every, for the love of play :
All, each, and every honour-thirsting knight,
That loveth, par amour, and hath his might,
In England, or elsewhere, would for a lady fight:
Who would not for a lovely lady joust,
Is marble, stone, and undiscerning dust.
In company with Palamon there came
Many a great knight, and many a noble name,
The flower of honour, and the light of fame :
Some in a hauberk armed for the war, 1410
And in a breast-plate and a cassock are ;
Some in a strong pair of large plates ; and some
Or with a Prussian shield, or targe are come ;
Some arm'd upon the legs ; and, death to deal,
Hold the great biting axe, or pounding mace of steel;
Whatever we have now, they had of old ;
And separately were arm'd, as I have told,
Each to his mind.
With Palamon did pace
The black Licurgus, the great king of Thrace ;
THE KNIGHT 9 TALE. 73
Black was his beard, and manly was his face, 1420 ; -&
The circles of his eyes, that (error shed ,
Burn'd 'twist a yellow aud a fiery red ; ,
Much like the line, that the hot iron shews,
That, from the furnace, on ttte anvil glows, i j
And, being soft with fire, accepts the forger's blows : v ? \
And, like a griffon, look'd he round about, ' ',-
The strait hairs combed on, bis temples stout, * \\{
And great his limbs, his muscles hard and strong, -, \
His shoulders broad, his arms were round and long : * j
And, as the guise did in his country hold, 1430 • I
Full high he stood upon a chair of gold, \ !
Whom four white bulls in tbe great traces drew, f
Their glossy sides like summer milk in hue : „ '
No armour had he of device, and rivetted ■' ,
With nails of gold, that a bright lustre shed ; *
But had a bear's skin, even black for age. - m
A coal-black bear, whom in his sullen rage 4 '
The king had kill'd with a cross-barred spear.
In the coldTbracian wilds, where Winter ragea drear.
His long strait hair was comb'd behind bis hack, 1440
And shone, like any raven's feather, black:
74 the knight's tale.
A golden circle of enormous weight,
And thick as a man's arm, upon his head there sate,
That blaz'd, like Morning, with th'inserted light
Of noble rubies, and of diamonds bright :
And all around his chair went alans* white,
Twenty and more, as great as any steer.
To hunt the tawny lion, and the deer ;
And follow 1 d him, with muzzles fastly bound,
And golden collars, and rings filed round : 1450
And lords a hundred had he in bis rout,
Their armour proof, their hearts were stern and stout.-
Came with Arcita, as in books we find,
The great Emetrius, the king of lnde,
(lnde is a country, where all wealth is born,
Against the blazing chambers of the Morn ;)
Came on a bay horse, trapped all in steel,
And, from the ruddy haunches to the iron heel,
Cover' d with cloth of gold, wherein was wove
Massy, both every flower, and great tree of the grove :
• Alano is the Spanish name of a species of dog, which the dictionaries call
a mastiff. Mr. Tybrwhitt.
THE KNIGHT S TALE. 75
Came riding, like the god of battle, Mara : 1460
His ripe coat armour waa of cloth of Tars,
A weighty silk, and vestiture uf state,
Frosted with noble pearls, and white, and round, and
great.
His saddle of burnt gold, and newly beat
By the apt hammer, for a God a seat ;
And a brief mantle from bis shoulders flowing,
Brimful of rubies, like the bright fire, glowing !
His crisp hair into jolly rings was run
Of yellow hue, aud glitter'd as the sun ; 1470
His nose was high, his eyes were citron bright,
Swelling his Una, his cheek of sanguine light i
And a few freckles sprinkled o'er bis face,
Something 'twist black aud yellow, gave a grace j
And cast his looking like a lion bold,
That doth the kingdom of the furesta hold ;
Of five and twenty years his age at moat,
His chin yet for bis beard at little cost,
For there tbe golden harvest 'gan to spring ;
His voice was like a trumpet thundering : 1480
•Upon his bead be wore of laurel green
A garland fresh, and lovely to be seen ;
76 the knight's tale. \
H
r
Upon bis hand he bore, for his delight,
An eagle tame, as any lily white ;
An hundred lords did in his suit appear.
All armed, save their heads, in all their gear, I
Full richly in all sort of warlike things :
For trust ye well, that earls, and dukes, and kings
Were gather' d in this noble company,
For love, and for increase of chivalry : 1490
About this king there ran, a sylvan guard,
Many a tame lion, many a spotted pard.
And in this wise the lords of gracious fame
To Athens on 1he happy Sunday came;
About the prime, upon the Sunday bright.
And Theseus, ever a most courteous knight.
Gave them great welcome, and a noble inn,
According to the state, that each was in ;
And feasted them, and did them honour all,
That men could ask : a gracious prodigal : 1500
That, since the first day of the golden Sun,
A feast like this he never look'd upon.
the knight's tale. 77
The minstrelsy ; the service at the feast ;
The great gifts to the most, and to the least ;
The rich array o'er Theseus' palace cast ;
Who sate upon the rais'd floor first or last ;
What lady danc'd the best, or look'd most fair ;
Or sung or, carol' d the most heavenly air ;
Or who most feelingly could speak of love ;
What hawks there sate upon the perch above ; 1510
What bounds there lay upon the floor adown ;
I say not this : let thought the action crown :
All was the best : now Mars begins to frown.
The Sunday night, ere day began to spring,
The lark of Palamon was heard to sing ;
The lark was heard to sing two hours ere day,
Or fair Aurora in the East 'gan play
Her ruddy reins, and drive her chariot on the way ;
Yet sang the lark ; and Palamon arose :
With courage, and a holy heart he goes, 1520
To say his prayers before the marble shrine
Of lovely Venus, blissful and divine :
At her own hour he left his balmy bed ,
And to the lists, and to the forest sped ; d 2
78 THE knight's tale.
His heart was brave, but h arable and resign'd ;
And down be knelt ; and, at her feet inclin'd,
Pour'd forth in tears his love-devoted mind.
*• Fairest of fair, by whom T rule my life,
* f Daughter to mighty Jove, aad Vulcan's wife,
" Thou gladder of Cithieron's holy hill, 1530
'• Lo» here I bend me to thy sovereign will :
" The love tbou had'st to Adorns, let it be
" The cause, that thou have pity too on me;
" Accept my bitter tears, and soothe my smart,
" And take my humble prayer into thine heart."
" Alas ! I have no soul, or speech can tell
" Th' effect, and cruel torment of my hell :
" My heart cannot its dreadful hurt betray :
" I am too much confounded, e'en to say
" The pangs of love, that kill me every way : 1540
•• But mercy, lady bright ! thou kncwest well
* My thoughts, and all the harms I cannot tell ;
" Consider all my grief, and all my truth ;
1 Goddess ! and have pity on me, and ruth :
THE KNIGHT S TALE.
' With gentle hand bind up my bleeding tore ;
' As truly as I shall, for evermore,
" Even with all my might, thy faithful servant be ;
■' And hold war always with pale chastity :
' That make I my fast vow : O ! give me aid ;
' For boast and glory, arms are not my trade : 1J
' I ask not victory to morrow mnrn,
' Nor in triumphant chariot to be borne ;
* Vain glory and renown are utterly ray scorn.
■' 1 ask not, nor desire to have my name
" Blown up and down by silver tramp of fame,
" Tbe shouting people giving load acclaim :
" No ; but I ask, Goddess ; and I die,
" If thou not grant, to have my Emily :
" With Emily to live, with Emily to die,
' My Emily to serve : for this I pray ; 1;
" Find thou the manner how, and in what way.
" Shape thou my fate, and make thou the decree;
" Whether ' t he better, that they conquer me,
" Or I bind them in cord of victory :
" I care not, and I reck not, queen of charms;
" So that I have my lady in my arms.
80 THE KNIGHT^ TALB,
*• For though Mara be the .Cod of spear and targe,
" And walk upon the. Thraciati mountains large,
•• Having of barriers and of lists the charge ;
" Yet, for all that, in the high courts above, 1!>70
' ' Thou hast such mighty force with sovereign Jove,
" That if thou please, I shall possess my love :
" I know 1 shall ; and therefore every day
" Upon thy holy altar will I pray,
" And in thy temple worship thee alway ;
" And make the sacrifice, and light the fires '. *
" O thou,mysovereigtt queen ! now hearken my desires.
•' And, if thou wilt not, my goddess dear !
" Patron of lovely love ! whom most I fear,
" And only I desire my life to sway, 1580
" Grant, that Arcka, with the morning ray,
M May drive the sharp spear through my heart, and tear
" My life away, and with that life my care *
" 1 shall not see, when I have lost my life,
" Nor care then, that Emilia be his wife :
%i Behold the end, and object of my prayer;
" Give me my love : well, Venus, may I fare !'*
THE KNIGHT *8 TALE,
When Pal am on had breath 'd out bis desires
In holy prayer, he lit the holy fires,
And did all things, that Venus' law requires :
He did them with a low and humble grace,
And tears ran streaming down his pallid face.
For lore of Emily ; how wan his look !
Till the soft statue of smooth Venus shook,
And made a sign ; which for a proof he took,
That she his prayer accepted on that day :
And yet he saw the sign show'd a delay ;
But then he knew she granted had his boon ;
And with a light heart went he home full soon.
The third hour after Palamon had sought
The temple of Venus in distracted thought,
Uprose the Sun, and uprose Emily,
And to Diana's temple travell'd modestly.
Her maidens in their hand contain' d tbe fire,
The clothes, the incense, and the whole desire
Of all the sacrifice, the horns of mead :
There lacked nought with Dian to succeed.
Smoking the temple, full of vestments fair :
And Emily, with pure heart debonnaire,
1
88 THE knight's tale:.
BathM in the limpid water of a well : 1610
But how she did her rites I dare not tell :
And yet to paint the maid would please Apollo well :
.. But I will be at large : her golden hair
Was combed, and un tressed all, and bare,
And flow'd adown her shoulders : o'er her head
A green oak cerial garland there was spread :
Two fires upon the altar then she made,
And did all things, the Goddess to persuade :
And when the fire was kindled, with a cheek,
Wherein the soul of modesty did speak, 1620
- A downcast eye, a tongcte like any Muse,
She spake unto Diana, as ensues :
" thou chaste Goddess of the forest green,
" To whom both heaven, and earth, and sea are seen J
" Queen of the reign of Pluto, dark and low ;
" Goddess of maidens, that my heart dost know,
" Full many a year, and know'st that I desire
" To keep me from thy vengeance and thine ire,
" For which Actaeon bled so cruelly,
" Goddess chaste, well k no west thou, that I 1630
the knight's tale. 83
% * Desire to be a maiden all my life,
*' And will no love, and never would be wife ;
" 1 am, thou know'st, yet of tby company;
*' A maid ; and love with spear and hound to fly
" After the hart, and walk in the woods wild,
" And not to be a wife, and be with child ;
" Nought would I know the company of man :
'< Now help me, lady, since ye may and can ;
" For those three forms, that aye thou hast in thee,
*' Help me, Diana, and, O ! set me free ^ 1640
" From Palamon, and Arcite equally,
" From both these knights, who eagerly love me :
<c I pray thee, for thy grace, send peace and love
" Between these two, who will the battle move ;
" And turn from me their hearts, and burning fire,
" All their hot love, and all their fierce desire,
" And all their busy torments; of thy grace
u Quench it, or let it burn in other place :
" Some fairer woman, and some lovelier face :
" Or, if my destiny be shap'd, that I 1650
" Must needs have one of them, queen on high,
" That viewest heaven, and earth, and flowing sea,
" Give me the knight, (thy will shall holy be,)
84 THB KNIGHT'S TAL^
/
" Who has most love, arid most desire for me."
" Behold, thou Goddess of clean chastity , A
" The tears, that on my cheeks in pity faH.
" Since thou art maid, and keeper of us all,
" Keep thou my maiden flower, and well preserve ;
•' And while I live a maid I will thee serve."
The two fires hurn'd upon the altar clear, 16C0
The while she pray'd unto her mistress dear :
The fires burn'd clearly with a lovely light :
But suddenly she saw a wondrous sight ;
For right anon one fire was quenched quite ;
Quickly it flamed again ; and then anon
The other fire was quench'd, and wholly gone ;
And, in its quenching, hiss'd; as brands will do,
Burn'd on the houshold hearth, when wet and new :
And at the brands' end there outran, anon,
As it were, bloody drops, ah ! many a one : 1670
Whereat so sore aghast was Emily,
That she was well nigh mad, and 'gan to cry ;
For she knew not what this might signify :
For fear of it she wept, and cried : for fear
Madly cried out, that pity was to hear.
And therewithal Diana 'gan appear,
THE KNIGHT STALE.
85
With bow in hand, and like a huntress clad,
And said, " Emilia, daughter, be not sad ;
•* It is declared among the Gods above,
" Th' eternal word is written of thy love, 1680
" Thou shalt be wedded unto one of those,
*' Who taste for thee so bitter care and woes ;
" But unto which of them 1 may not tell: .
*' Farewell ; for here 1 may no longer dwell.
" Daughter, thy faultless soul may well discern
*' By the two fires, which on my altar burn,
** Thy fate in love, ere henceforth thou shalt turn."
Emilia, aw'd by her celestial face,
Submissive heard : the arrows in the case
'Gan fastly clatter, and 'gan loudly ring ; 1690
And forth the- Goddess went, and made a vanishing.
Said then the maid, as forth way she did pass,
'Astonished, " what, O Queen, amounteth this ? alas !
" 1 mean Diana, all my life to place
" In thy protection, and thy holy grace :"
And said no more : but homeward, in dismay,
And with a gentle foot-fall took her way*
'4
86 THE knight's tale.
The next hour, that to Mars was dedicate,
To pray unto the God of bloody hate,
To light the fires, to make the sacrifice, 1700
According to the savage Pagan wise,
With a firm foot and slow, Arcita sped
To the strong temple of grim Mars the red ;
With high devotion, and an humble heart
He said his prayers, and thus absolv'd his part.
" O thou strong God, that in the kingdom cold
" Of Thrace men honour, and their lord behold ;
•' And hast in every reign, and every land,
" Of wild war all the bridle in thy hand ;
" In whose great voice the bloody conquest lies ; 1710
" Accept of me my piteous sacrifice !
" If my youth merit, and my arm have might,
'* To serve thy Godhead in the burning fight ;
" If I am worthy to be one of thine ;
" Have ruth upon me, for that rage of thine,
" That killing pain, and that hot thrilling fire,
v In which, grim God, thou burnedst for desire
" And use of Venus, and her beauty free,
<c Who gave her youth, and her fresh form to thee,
THE KNIGHT STALE. 87
" And lay within thy arras, and did thy will : 1730
" Though once misfortune did thy cup o'er fill,
" When Vulcan trapp'd thee in his meshy net,
" And saw ihee with his wife, and rages yet :
" For all the grief, that then was in thy heart,
" Have rntb upon me, and controul my smart.
" For I am young, and ignorant, thou know'st ;
" And, as I think, with love offended most
" Of any living man, or living thing,
" That ever was or is: for she, the spring
" And source of all my woe, and life made dim, 1731)
■' Cares nothing if 1 sink, or if 1 swim :
" And well I know, before I mercy gain,
" 1 must with strength compel her, and constrain:
" And well 1 know, that all my strength is vain
" Unless thy grace and godhead 1 obtain :
" Then help me, lord, to-morrow in the war ;
" For that fierce fire, that burned thee so far ;
" For this fierce fire, that now burnetii me ;
" And do, that I to-morrow may have victory ;
" The travail shall be mine, the glory be with thee: 1740
" Thy sovereign temple will I honour most
" Of any place, and labour with great cost
88
THE KNIGHT^ TALR.
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In thy strong craft, and in thy pleasure strong,
And hang my banner thy great walls along,
And all the armour of my company ;
And everraoie, until the day I die,
Eternal fire before thee will 1 burn ;
And make this vow, (and hear it, and discern*!)
My beard, my hair, the growth of many a year,
That never felt the razor, or the shear, 1750
I will to thee, the God of warriors, give ;
And be thy steadfast servant, while I live :
Now, lord, have ruth upon my sorrows sore :
Give me the victory : I ask no more."
The strong Arcita's orison is o'er :
The rings, that hung upon the temple door,
And eke the very doors did clatter fast :
At which Arcita somewhat was aghast.
The red fires burn'd upon the altar bright :
'Gan all the temple to be fill'd with %ht :
Anon a sweet smell came up from the floor :
Anon Arcita his great hand up bore,
And more ripe incense in the fires cast :
With many other lites : and, at the last,
1700
The statue of Mars began his hauberk ring,
And with thaL sound he heard a murmuring
Pull low and dim, lliat said thus, " Victory !"
And glory and honour to Mars render' d be ;
Glory and honour to his deity.
And thus with joy, and hope to have his prayer,
p And sure in the hard battle well to fare,
Aiciia to bis happy Inn is gone,
As glad, as is the eagle of the Sun.
Bui, for the gift of Mars unto his knight,
Great strife began, in the high realms of light,
Betwixt the laughing queen of lovely charms,
And Mars, the stern God, powerful of arms :
Jove was unequal the debate to slay,
Though mighty busy on that angry day :
'Till pale Salumus, he surnam'd the cold,
That knew so many accidents of old,
Found in his old experience and his art,
A method to assuage the mind of eiilier part :
As truly is it said ; " Age hath great power,
" Though cold and feeble in it's wintry hour :
t
90 THE KNIGHT 8 TALE.
" In age is wisdom, and the use of it :
" Men may the old outrun, but not outwit."
Saturn, anon, to Stay debate and strife,
Albeit against the current of his life,
For war was ever pleasing to bis mind, 1?
Of all their strife a remedy 'gan find.
" My daughter, Venus," quoth Saturnos drear,
" My course of action, thai all mortals fear,
" Hath more of power, than can be known to man,
" Mine is the drenching in the sea so wan,
" Mine is the prison in the dark confine,
" The hanging by the throat, the strangling mine,
" The churls' rebelling, and the murmuring,
" The discontent, the privy empoisoning,
" Vengeance I do, and plain correction digne, I
" Whenso 1 dwell in the dark lion's sign :
" Mine is the ruin of the lofty halls,
" The falling of the tow'rs, and of the walls
" Upon the miner, or the carpenter :
" In fashioning of ill I never err :
.
THE KNIGHT'S TALE. - 91
i
if
"Sampson I slew, when he (he pillar shook :
" Of me the cold, dim maladies are look ;
. *' Hence the dark treasons, the easnarings hence,
" 1 look, and I beget the pestilence.
" Now weep no more ; I shall use diligence, 1810 .'.%
" That Palamon thy knight, and sworn to thee,
" Shall have the wife, that thou hast giv'n him free :
" Yet, nevertheless, shall Mars his knight sustain,
" Sometime there must be peace between you twain ;
" Although of one complexion ore ye not,
" By which great strife is every day begot :
" I am thy grandfather, to do thy will :
" Weep now no more ; I shall thy wish fulfil."
So Saturn said : but let us leave the sky
Which cannot bar debate, and jealousy ; 182'
With iron wings up iuto heaven they fly :
Now listen to our great Derrick tragedy !
Great was the feast ia Athens on that day :
The lusty season of the flowery May
Made every man to be in such delight.
They just and dance unlill the Monday night :
I
*i
Uy THE KNIGHT S TALK.
Ayr, all uf Monday in thy service high,
Spent ihuy, great Venus, to thy deity :
But, early in the moro to rise, and see the fight,
Keluetant from the dance they went to bed at night. 1830
And on (he morrow, wheD the day 'gan spring,
Of horse and harness noise and clattering
There was in all the hostelries about :
And to the palace rode there many a rout
Of lords on steeds and palfreys : such a Morn
There had not been, since the great World was bom.
There mighl'st thou see, and revel in the sight,
The ordering of harness for the fight,
Rich, strange, and wrought with a prodigious deal
Of goldsmithry, of broidering, and of steel; 1840
The bright shields, head-pieces, and trappings brave,
Gold-hewen helms, and hawberks, God roe save !
Blazing cuat-arniours, that their nations gave ;
Lords, in great cloth of slate, on coursers free.
And knights of retinue, and squires there be ;
Nailing the spears, and buckling the helms strong,
Rubbing of shields, and lacing up the thong;
%
THE KNIGHT S TALE.
93
There is great need, that they are nothing idle.
The foamy steeds upon the golden bridle
Gnawing, and armourers, and fast they go, 1850
With file and hammer pricking to and fro ;
Yeomen on foot, and commons many a one,
With short staves, thick as they can march ; anon
Pipes, trumpets^ brazen drums, and clarions,
That in the battle-blow the bloody sowns ;
The palace full of people up and down,
Here three, there ten, and weighing of renown,*
And holding question of these Thebans two,
Divining what the warring knights shall do,
Some said it shall be thus, some said it shall be so ; 1860
Some held with him, that had the great black beard ;
Some with the bald ; and some with the thick-hair'd ;
Some said, " yon man looks grim, and he will fight ;
" That axe as twenty pounds is not so light."
With busy tongues the royal hall thus rung,
Long after that the goldemSun up sprung ;
With busy tongues, and with divining thought :
Each man with expectation greatly fraught.
Duke Theseus, of his balmy sleep betray'd
With minstrelsy, and the great noise they made, 1870
I
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94
THE KNIGHT'S TALE.
1
Held yet the chamber of his palace fair,
Until the Theban knights, a warlike pair,
With honour to the palace carried are.
Duke Theseus at a window sate alone,
Arrayed, like a God, upon his throne :
Thither the people press'd, with duteous sense,
To see him, and to pay high reverence \
Also to hearken to him with great awe,
And gather from his lips of this dread fight the law.
An herald on a scaffold cried, " Ho !" 1880
And all the people fell in silence low :
And, wheu he saw the people's noise was still,
Thus he declared the Duke, his Sovereign's, will.
The lord hath in bis high discretion thought,
That gentle blood shall not to death be brought,
c To mortal battle, and disastrous fight,
< In this fair quarrel of sublime delight :
c Wherefore, to rule it that they shall not die,
( The duke will his first purpose modify/'
THE KNIGHT » TALE,
.- <*
''SI
J
" Therefore no man, on pain of loss of life, 18
" Nor bolt, nor shot, nor poleaxe, nor short knife
" Shall send, or bring into the list ; nor draw,
" Nor bear a short sword : 'tis against the law, '
" That any man shall ride at his compeer, *]
" Even one course, with a sharp-grounded spear;
" Foin may he, if it please him so, on foot V
" For his defence : and then it must not suit,
" Nor be allow'd, that any shall be slain,
" But, who is heat, shall to the stake be ta'en,
" Fix'd upon either side, by force, and there remain i 1900
" And, if it fall so, that the chief be ta'en
" On either side, or else shall fly his mate,
" The tournament is over at that date.
" God speed you ; go ye forth, and lay on fast
" With loug sword, and with mace ; and break your fast,
" Ye noble knights ! and have of war your till:
" Go now your way ye hear Duke Theseus' will,"
The voice of the people touched to the heaven :
So lend they cried with merry voice, that riven
Was the great sky; " God save a lord so good ! 1010
" He will have no destruction of the blood !" '
*
96 tue knight's tale.
Up go the trumpets and the melody,
And to the lists rode all the company,
By ordinance, throughout the city large,
Hanged with cloth of gold, and not with sarge.
Full like a lord this noble Duke 'gan ride,
And these two Thebans upon either side,
And after rode the Queen and Emily,
And after that another company, •
Of one and another, after their degree : 1920
And thus they pass'd throughout the city free,
And to the lists are come in lovely time;
It is not of the day yet fully prime.
When Theseus on his throne was set full rich and high,
Ipolita the queen, and Emily, I
And other ladies severally about, '
Unto their seats then press the universal rout.
And Westward through the gates, and. under Mart
Arcita, and the hundred of his part,
With banner red, is enter' d right anon : i»*$<<
And) in the self-same moment, Palamon
Is under Venus, Eastward on the place,
With banner white, and hardy cheer and face :
t
THE KNIGHT'S TALE. 97
«
Look through the world, and look through every tone*
And see, if any war more equally can chime I
If ever yet two companies were met,
Or can be, with more just proportion set ;
None had the wit to say, that either had J
TV advantage, or the other's hope forbad ;
So were they equal iaestete and age, 194&
So tantamount in skill, so poiz'd in warlike rage,
Neither was any more^andi neither any feast •
In two fair ranks they 'gan themselves address :
And then the names were read of every one,
That in theta number guile tljere might be none,
Then were the gates shut, and was cried aloud,
" Do your devohvjoung knights! ye noble* and ye
proud!"
The heralds left their pricking up and down ;
Now ring the trumpets loud, -and now the clarion.
There is no more to say ; but, East and West, I960
In go the spears, and steady in the rest ;
In goes the sharp spar into the horse-side •
Then see men, who can just, and who can ride ;
There shiver the shafts upon the shields so thick ;
He feels through the breast-bone the spear to prick ;
E
$
9& THE KNIGHT'S TALE.
Up spring the spears, and twenty foot in height ;
Outgo the swords, as any silver, bright :
The helms they hew, and cut them into shred ;
Outbursts the dismal blood in rivers red ;
With mighty maces the great bones they burst ; 1960
Tie through the thickest of the throng can thrust ;
There stumble the steeds strong, and down goeth all ;
There rolls he under foot, as doth a ball ;
There foihs he at his foe with truncheon strong ;
There hurtles he at him, and throws his horse along ;
He through the body is hurt ; and him they take,
Maugre his head, and bring him to the stake ;
As the pact was ; right there he must abide :
Another too is led upon the other side ;
And sometimes Theseus causes them to rest, 19TO
To drink the spiced wine, and be with thrifty meat re-
fresh' d.
Full oft upon the day the Thebans two
Together met, and wrought each other woe ;
Unhors'd each other: no, there cannot stray
A tisrer in the vale of Galaphey,
Whose little whelp is stolen from her sight,
So cruel on the hunter, as Arcite,
*rw
THE KNIGHT'S TALE.
99
So cruel in his ire ; and would have gone
The sword right through the heart of Palamon :
Nor any lion, in wild Belmarie, 1980
Or hunted, or for hunger mad, can be
So thirsting for the blood and for the prey,
As Palamon, his foe Arcite to slay :
The jealous strokes upon their. helmets bite;
Outruns on both their sides, a woeful sight !
The crimson blood, and all beholders doth affright.
Sometimes there is an end of every deed :
The fight cannot forever glow, the knights for ever bleed :
For ere the Sun, that stopp'd th' event to see,
Dropp'd into rest in the Atlantic sea, . 1990
And vanished with a crimson majesty,
The great strong king, Emetrius, *gan assault
This Palamon, and took him at default,
Engag'd in raging battle with Arcite ;
And made his sword deep in his flesh to bite ; ;■
The force of twenty men avails to take
Th* unyielding Prince, and drag him to the stake :
And, in the rescue of this. Palamon,
The great strong king, Licurgus, is borne down }
*f
100 THE KNHJHt'8 TALK.
•
And king Emetrius, for all his strength, 200* ►
Is borne out of his saddle a sword's length,
So fierce hit Palamon, but all for nought ;
To the mad stake, and straggling, he is brought :
His hardy heart, antihts amazing might*'
Avail him nov.no longer in the figh t :
Though anguish rent his heart, he most' abide'
His cruel fate, and the unhappy tide :
And madly he foam'd t' have in the battle died :
Yea, at the stake poor Palamon must stand ; [2010
Such is the final pact, and such the duke's command.
4
Think ye he grieves, lhat can no longer play
His bright sword flashing in the burning fray ?
Think ye he grieves, as doth a tiger* foil VI, ;/ i i ',.; 1
Or brindled lion in the* meshes toil'd ?<
Duke Theseus, when he saw the chief was ta'en,
No longer would have' blood run out, like rain :
He rose up from his chair, ami cried to every one,
" Ho ! hold die fight : the tournament is done.
" A true judge, and no party will 1 be :
" Arcite Of Thebes shall marry Emily : 2020
" Fortune hath giv'n him her, in giving victory."
THE KNIGHTS TALB.
101
•i
Anon there was a noise of people rose,
As when the north wind over Euxine goes,
For joy of this ; so loud, and high withal :
It seem'd the very lists, like Jericho, shall fall.
i?
Ah ! what can Venus do in heaven above ?
What can she say, the weeping queen of love ?
She weeps, to want her will : her tears o'erflow ;
That all the Gods were melted at her woe :
She murmur'd, and she sobb'd ; " I am ashamed." 2030
'But old Saturnus with grave voice exclaim'd,
And all the Gods a deep attention bore,
" O daughter, hold thy peace, and weep no more :
" Mars hath his will ; his knight hath all his boon :
" And by my head thou shalt be eased soon."
*j^ *ii
Behold ! the trumpeters 'gan blow on high*
And fill the heavens with shrilling minstrelsy,
And all the heralds loudly yell and cry,
To saltier Arcite for his victory :
But stint your noise awhile, and hark to me,
Ye clamourers : why should ye noisy be,
E 2
2040
£
102 THE KNIGHTVTALEi
And make heaven tremble with your revelry t
A miracle shall fall oat presently !
The fieice Arcita hath his helm undone,
To let the shouting people gaze upon
His conquering face; and prickelh alt along
Upon his courser through the greedy throng :
(The greedy throng exalt their voices high ;)
And still looks upward on his Emily,
And she on him looks with benignant eye, 20
And gives her heart unto bis victory,
For every woman through the world's round marge
Will follow fortune, and her favours large,
And was his own, as wed in cheer as heart :
Behold ! out of the ground a Fury' infernal slart,
From Pluto sent, at begging of Saturne ;
For which bis horse for fear began to turn,
And leap'd aside, and founder'd as he leapt :
And, ere Arcita any caution kept,
He pitch'd him on the pommel of his head, 20
That in the place he lay, as he were dead :
His breast was broken with the saddle bow:
As black he lay, as any coal, or crow:
The blood run to tiis face, and more refus'd to flow.
IHB KNIGHT B TALK. iU3
Arcila straightway from the place they_bore
To Theseus palace ; but his heart was sore :
Then was he cat out of his harness strong :
And in abed fall gently laid along :
For he yet liv'd, and. was in memory ;
And always crying after Emily. 2070
And the duke Theseus, with his company,
To Athens is come home, right royally,
With every bliss and great solemnity :
For, though this sad misfortune did befall,
He would not throw discomfort on tbem all :
And men said, " Of the hurt Arcita shall not die •
" He shall be healed of his malady :"
Then they had joy too, that no man was slain
In all the battle ; though with grievous pain
Full many were sore hurt ; and, namely, one ; 2080
That with a spear was pierc'd through the breast bow.
To other wounds, to broken ribs and arms
Some bad soft salves, and some had sacred charms ;
And medicines of herbs tu some they gave ;
And some drank sage, for they their lives would have ;
And then the noble duke does all he can,
To cvnfort, and to honour every man ;
104 TUB KMIGHT'8 TAIH.
And made a revel all the live-long night
Unto the stranger lords ; and surely he was right :
Nor was there a discouraging event, 2090
Save as at justs, or at a tournament
It well may happen : for, lo fall from horse,
Or to be led unto a slake by force
Of twenty knights, unyielding to tbe same, .
And dragg'd by anna and feet, cannot be blame,
One against twenty, lo Achilles' name; .
And have his steed too driven forth with staves,
Of footmen, whether yeomen, or mere knaves ;
Men justly count it fortune, and not fault.
And Theseus bade the heralds cry unto the vault 2100
Of heaven with silver tube, and loudly to declare
All acted in the lists was noble, brave, and fair :
To stint all rancour, and let envy' die,
And give the grace and honour equally
As well to those of one side, as the' other'; -
And either side alike, as each man were a brother
Unto his foe : and noble gifts he give. 1 . ■' ' '
And three days held a feast, a jolly feast and brave :
And did the kings, and chivalry convey
Out of his city largely on the way : 2110
THE K*t&&**8 tALE. 105
And home went every man, the nearest way:
" Farewell" now was the word, and " have good day:
The tournament is o'er : the'knights are gon« :
Now let me turn t* Arcite, and Palamon.
W
Old Homer says, and wisely does be say,
The lives of men. for ever fall away ;
Are like the leaves of trees, which greenly fall,
Or, sere and late, acknowledge Autumn's thrall,
Strewing the golden brooks : this general truth
Arcita proves, and. perishes in youth. 2120
For all the wise physician's noble skill,
The wound suffices the brave knight to kill :
Nor bleeding ro the vein, nor cupping glass,
Nor drink of herbs can give him belp, alas I
The clotter'd blood refuses more to pass.
Nature's expulsive virtue cannot throw
The venom off, nor void the fatal woe t
The spirits at his heart are now most weak and low :
All pharmacy is vain : the man must die i •
And darkling rolls and heavily his eye : 2130
He thinks of heaven above, on earth of Emily.
sd
For Emily and Palamon he scuds.
Mis love the first, and both his dearest friends :
And each with pity and love at the bed-side atti
" Nought can the woful spirit in my heart
'* Declare one point of all my sorrow's smart,
" To you, my lady, whom I love the moat :
" But i bequeath the service of my ghost,
" If Spirits be sensible of former love,
" To you, all other creatures far above ;
" Since life no longer I may hope to prove."
' Alaa, the heavy woe 1 the anguish strong t
' That I for yon have surTer'd, and so long !
" Alas, the death ! alas, my F.inily !
* Alas, departing; of our company ! -
' Alas, my heart's fair queen ! alas, my wife !
' The lady of my heart ! the ender of my life!
' What is this world: what ask vain men to have?
" Now with his love, and now in his cold grave :
'* Alone, without the shadow of company. 2150
" Farewell, my sweet ! farewell, my Emily !
" Soft take me in your gemlle arms, I pray,
* For love of God, and hearken what I say.
THE KNIGHTS TALE. 107
" I have here with my cousin, Pafemon,
" Had strife and rancour many a day agone,
" For love of yon, and for my jealousy :
" And Jupiter so guide my soul into felicity,
" If in all things, that do belong to love,
«• Wherein a maid her happiness shall prove,
" In truth, in honour, knighthood, and estate, 2160
" High kindred, and a mind, that will not bate
" Of wisdom, and of sweet humility,
•' And whate'er graces. true nobility,
• 4 To me a man through all the world is known,
44 So worthy to be lov'd, as Palamon ;
" That serves you, and will serve you all his life :
*« And, if thou purpose ever to be" wife,
*' Forget not Palamon, the gentle man ?"
And with that word bis speech to fail began ;
The cold of death crept upward from his feet, 2170
And spread towards his heart, and quench 'd the sove-
reign heat :
The intellect dwelt there, and slowly left her seat:
The soul 'gan faulter, when the heart felt death :
Dusk grew his eyes, and trembled his low breath :
&.
108
THE knight's TALE,
Bat on his lady yel he cast hie eye,
And his last word was, " mercy, Emily !"
His Spirit chang'd ber house ; and went her wai
Whither 1 have net been, and therefore cannot s
Who am not a divine, and find no' word
Of the dwelling of pure Bonis, in this record ;
Nor have I love th' ascendant thoughts lo it.-] I
Of those, who shew us where the Spirits dwell.
1 doubt not, that he went to bliss on high :
Now let me apeak of weeping bjnily.
Shriek 'd Emily, and senseless she became :
Howl'd Palaroon, and charg'd with bitter blame
The croel Fates, thai tore bis friend, away.
Then, from the room, where cold Arcila lay,
Duke Theseus hath his swooning sister home :
To it'll you, how she wept both even and morn,
What boots it in this case r all women so,
Like rivers, in fast tears of sorrow flow,
Whose husbands from their fond embrace* go ;
Or else, for want of tears, fall in such malady,
That at the last most certainly tbey die.
thx knight's talis. 109 f+
V
\
Infinite sorrows be, and ia&niiei lflmitt
Of old folks, and of folks of tender years,
In ail the town, for this brave Tfoeban's death i
Wept both the child and man, and sorrow had great
breath. ;
Troy did jiotweep so largely, when the ear 2200
Brought Hector home, fresb*bleeding from the war s
Alas ! alas ! f*he pity, that was' there \
Tearing of cheeks ! and rending of the hair !
" Why vrouldest thou be dead ?" these women cry, f
" And had'st of gold enough*, and Emily ?"
No man could comfort the Athenian duke,
Save his old father, Egeus: whose wise look
Had pierc'dube world, and knew it's every change*
And all its transmutation, and Us range
Of joy and woe, and woe and joy ; and had 2210 /-
Example, by which sorrow is forbad.
Right as there never died a man, quoth he,
" Hut that be liv'd on earth hi some degree;
" Right so there never liv'd a roan, he said,
" In all this world, but sometime shall be dead i
A » -*■
110 THE KNIGHT S TALE.
" This world is a full thoroughfare of wot ;
" And we are pilgrims, passing to and fro;
" Death is an end of the world's grief below."
And over all this yet much more he said ;
Which he had learn'd by age, on the same head : 2220
And very wisely bade the people slay
Their great lamenting : " Sorrow has it's day."
Now Theseus all his thought employs, and care,
That good Areita's sepulture be fair,
That with all honour it adorned be,
And all the grace of war, that knew A iniquity.
He thought it just to have it in that grove.
Moth sweet and green, where both the knights for love
Had keenly fought, their passion lo approve :
Where Arcite fed his amorous desires, 2230
Where he complain'd, and knew love's burning fires ;
In that same grove a fire will he make,
Of Athens, and the world the grief to slake,
A fire, wherein he may accomplish all
The office of the Theban's funeral. '
THE KNIGHT S TALK. 1
Anon he gave coaamaml tohaek and hew
All the old oaks, and ithej. were not a few,
Tbat that old foreat m it's confines knew ;
And lay them in wjbole trees upon a row.
And transverse, that the fire may justly glow. 39
His officers with swift feet run, and ride,
To fell the mighty oaks throughout the forest wide ;
And do all other things that Theseus may provide.
A bier was had, and over it was spread
The richest cloth of gold the loom can shed :
And loving Theseus clad the good Afcke
In the same cloth of gold, like mid-day, bright;
A melancholy task ! a passionate delight !
And on his warlike bands the gloves were white,
And on his head a crown of laurel green, 21
And in his hand a sword full bright and keen.
Ho laid him bare the visage on (be bier :
Therewith he wept, that pity waa to bear :
And, for the people should behold him all.
When it was day, he brought him to the hall,
That roareth of the crying, and the moan.
i
<<
IIS TUB KNIGHTS TALB.
Then came the wofal Theban, Palamou,
With flot'ry beard, and ragged hair.'whereon
The mournful ashes ruefully were stirtwn,
In black clothes, dropping all wilh tears, alone; 3201)
And, passsiog o'er of weeping Emily, •"■-'■• ■•••
The ruefullest of all Ihe company.
And, that the service shall more noble be,
More rich and equal the dead knight's- degree,
Duke Theseus bade the royal grooms to oring
Three pacing steeds, fit either for a king,
Trapped in poligh'd steel, like, light' Ding, glittering :
All cover'd wilb the arms of lord Arcite :
Aud sate upon those steeds, so great and white,
The man, who bare bis shield; the man, who bare 227<i
His spear up in his hands ; the man, who bare
His bow of Turkey, with a duteous care ;
The case of burnt gold, and the harness were :
And rode forth a foot's pace, with sorrowful cheer,
Towards the grove, as ye shall after hear.
The noblest of the Greeks, that then were there,
Upon their shoulders bore the golden bier,
w^"^
'I
f
THE KNIGHT'S TALE. U3
With a slack pace, and eyes full wet and red,
And through the main street of the city sped,
All carpeted with black, and woudrous high 2280
The houses hung with black, and clothed mournfully.
Upon the right hand travelPd Egeus old,
Duke Theseus on the left his way did hold,
With vessels in their hand, of gold full fine,
All full of honey, milk, and blood, and wine :
And Palamon, with full great company ;
And after that came woful Emily,
And bore the fire in hand, and burning bright,
To do the office of the funeral rite.
Great preparation and high labour were, 2290
The service of that lighting to prepare,
That the great doleful fire might blaze into the air :
The funeral stage was twenty fathoms broad,
That with his green top, and his verdant load,
Reach'd up into the heavens, that was Arcite's abode :
A forest forth* bed' of his remains :
Of straw- there first was laid, in base, a hundred wains.
- V» •/ I •
But how the fire was waken'd up on- high,
The names of all the trees, that there did lie,
114 the knight's tale.
As oak, fir, birch, and aspin, alder wet, 2300
Holm, poplar, willow by the rivers set,
Elm, plane, ash, box, and lime-tree, chesnut rich,
Laurel, thorne, maple, hazel, yew, and beech,
And all the general forest growing free,.
How they were felTd shall not be told by me ;
Nor how the Gods ran up the wood and down,
Spoil'd of their several homes, and of their leafy town ;
In which they greenly liv'd, in pleasing rest and peace,
The Nymphs, the Fauns, the Hamadryades ;
Nor yet how the wild beasts, and the birds all, 2310
For fear fled, when the forest 'gan to fall ;
Nor how the ground aghast was of the light,
That was not wont to see great Phoebus bright ;
Nor how, what shall anon be fire, was laid
At first with the dry straw, as I have said,
And then with the dry sticks, and cloven in three, *
And then with green wood, and with spicery,
And then with cloth of gold, and jewels a bright dower,
And garlands hanging ripe with many a lovely flower ;
The myrrh ; the incense, with sweet odorous bliss ; 2320
Nor how Arcita lay amongst all this ;
The richness of the world about his body is ;
\
THE KNIGHT S TALE. 113
Nor bow Emelia toucb'd the pile with light.
And did with trembling hands the funeral rite,
And turn'd away her face, and feH in night,
And swoon'd beside the flames, which she bad wakeu'd
bright ;
Nor what she spoke of prayer, and of desire.
Ere yet her knight was wrapped in the fire ;
Nor what brave jewels in the fire men cast.
When it was great, and broad, and burning fast ; 2330
Nor bow some cast their shield, and some their spear,
And some their vestments, and whate'er was dear,
A chariot- wheel, a helmet glist'ring drear ;
Caps full of wine, and milk, and blood they had
Into the fire, that burnt as it were mad ;
Nor bow the warlike Greeks, with a huge rout,
Three times had ridden all the fire about,
On the left band, and made the heavens to ring,
Thrice shouting, and their spears thrice clattering ;
And how the ladies tbrice 'gaii unto heaven to cry; 2340
Nor bow unto her home was helped Emily;
Nor how Arcite was burnt to ashes cold ;
Nor how the wake around the fire they bold
All the same night ; nor how the Greek men play ;
Of all the wake-games hardly can I say :
I
;
116 THE KN1CHt'= TALE.
Who, naked, wrestled best, with oil anointed,
And bare him so, he was no way disjointed ; '
I will not tell : nor yet how all are gone
Home onto Athens, when (he play is done :
Hut shortly to the port my course 1 bend,
And make of my long (ale a worthy pod-
By length and process of down-flowing yean,
The mourning was witbeld, and quench'd the te
Of all the Greeks by general assent :
And annual games were held at Arcile's
About this time was held a parliament
At Athens : and the point was in debate.
To have alliance with a foreign state :
And also to have Thebes, that prostrate lay,
In right obedience to the gentle sway 2
Of the duke Theseus, and the Athenian laws :
And Palamon, unknowing of the canse,
Was sent for by the duke : and came the knight,
But not in cloth of state, adorned bright,
But mournfully, and in his black' dothes clad ; '
And dismally he look'd, and very sad ;
His tears yet for Arcita were not dry:
He came : and Theseus sent for Eroflyv - '
*
the knight's tale. 117
When they were jset, an<> hush'd was all the place ;
And Theseus had abode a little space, 2370
Ere any word came out pf -his, wise. breast :
His thoughtful eye on heaven he did rest ;
And somewhat sad his face ; he sighed still ;
And, after that, right .thus be said his will.
" The first great Mover, of the cause above,
" When he first fashion'd the fair chain of love,
" ( Great was th' effect, and high was his intent;
" Well wist he why, and what thereof he meant :
" For bound he with that lovely chain and band
" The fire^the air, the water, and the land, 2380
" In certain bounds,, that they may never flee :
The same great Prince, and Mover eke," quoth he,
Hath stablish^d, in this .wretched world below,
A certain sum of days for men to know ;
/* Yea, all that are engendered in this place,
" Over which day they can in no wise pace :
" Albeit their days they, frequently abridge.
" I need not an authority alledge
" Experience proves it ; and it causes me
" To speak, that ye my final will may see. 2390
•c
«i
4\
118 THE KNIGHT'fl TALE.
" Then may men, iu this order, well discern
" That Mover is both stable and eterne :
" Well may men know, unless it be a fool,
" That every part deriveth from it's whole :
" Nature hath not beginning, nor her spring'
11 From any part or fragment of a thing ;
" But from a perfect cause, imperishable ;
" Descending, till it be corruptible :
" And therefore, in his wise providing, he
" Hath so well ordered, what he rules shall be, 2400
" All kinds of things, and their progressions pure
" In just succession only shall endure ;
" Are not eternal, nor can ever be,
" This may'st thou understand, and plainly see.
" Lo> the strong oak, that from it's springing first
" A hundred years must fruitfully be nurs'd,
" And stands a hundred years in noble sway,
" And bends a hundred years to it's decay,
" Having so long a life, as ye may see,
'< Yet at the last all wasted is the tree. 2410
«' Consider ye besides, how the hard stone
" Under our feet, we tread and walk upon,
" It wastes upon the road, where- it doth lie :
" And sometime the broad river shall be dry :
THE KNIGHT 8 -TALE.
' The great towns see we wane to nought, and wend
-'Then may ye see, that all things have au end.
" Of man and woman also we may see,
" So is it rul'd by hard necessity,
" That every man in youth, or else in- age,
" He shall be dead; the king, as shall a page :
" Some in his bed, and some in the deep sea,
" And some in the large field, as ye may see ;
" There is no help; all go the self-same way:
" All things must die : that I may plainly say.
" What causes this, but Jupiter the king,
" The principle and cause of every thing,
" Converting all unto his proper will,
" From which it is deriv'd, and shall be still ?
" And here again, no creature is alive,
'* Whom it avails against his will to strive.
" Then is it wisdom, as it seems to me,
" To make a virtue of necessity,
" And take that well, which we cannot esehew
" The certain fate, that to ua all is due.
" And whoso murmurs aught is but a fool,
" And rebel unto him, that all doth rule.
" And certainly a man bath honour's dower,
" Who dicta in his excellence and flower,
r-
THE KNIGHT B TALE.
1
a bb Dame nobly sounds and lacketh blame,
And his friend loves him, and he known not shame ;
" And 5l.ui1.lcr ought his friend be of hi* death, [2440
** Wh«n with pare honour he yields op bis breath,
" Than when his honour has thrown pale with age,
" And time has quite forgot bis watlike rage:
■' That is the season best, in point of fame,
" To die, when a brave man is best of name.
** The contrary of Ibis is wilfulness.
" Why murmur we? why have we heavinea*,
" That good Arcite, of chivalry the flower,
" With duty and honour in a happy hour, 3450
" Departs from tbe foul prison of this life? :>--'< •
" Why murmur here his cousin, aod his wife,
*' At his good state, that lov'd him so entire I
" What would they, that he not enjoys, desire?
" And can he thank them ? nay : and to what end,
" That both his soul, and his fair state offend?
" And yet, though they know this, they cannot stay
■- Their tears, and love him in a better way."
* Ot all this series what may I conclude ?
* T 'loi, alter sorrow, it is wise and good,
THE KNIGHT 8 TALE. 121
* And I advise, we turn ns now to joy ;
■' And all our minds to Jupiier employ
' In thanks and honour for bis love and grace :
'■• And, ere that we depart from out this place,
" I counsel, that we make, of sorrows two,
" One perfect lasting joy; which men shall view
" To last for ever: look ye now, wherein
; ' Host sorrow there is, as always there has been,
" That will I first amend, and there begin,"
■' Sister," said he, " this is ray full assent, 247'
" With aB the advice here of my parliament,
" That gentle Palamon, your own true knight,
" Who serves you with all will, and heart, and might;
" And ever hath so dearly rnn his race ;
" Ye shall look on him both with pity and grace,
" And take him for your husband, and your lord :
" Lend me your band [ for this is our accord."
" Now let us of your womanly pity know.
" He is the nephew of a king: and though
" He were no more than a poof bachelor, 248
'• Since he has lov'd you for so many a year.
182 the knight's tale.
" Ami had for ynii so great adversity,
" It oughl to be rorisider'd, trust ye mo,
" Where all has been perform'd so faultlessly,
" You owe him pily and benignity."
Then said he thus to Palamon the knight,
As happy as the lark at morning light ;
" I think there needs but little argument,
" To have iu this your absolute assent :
" Come near, and take your lady by tbe hand," 24
And then to knit them in the holy band
Of marriage, and conjoin their happy years,
By all ih* united counsel of the peers,
A contract was drawn up, the trumps on high
Breath'd the fair tale unto tbe laughing sky,
And all the heralds gave the fame on high.
And all the people shouted joyously,
And, crown'd with bliss, and led by melody,
Brave Palamon hatb wedded Emily ; ' '
And God, that all this spacious world bath wrought,
Send him h is love, that bath it dearly bought !
For Palamon is now a king in wealth,
Living in bliss, in richness, and in health ;
THE KNIGHT B TALC. 183
And Emily him lores so tenderly,
And be again her serves so perfectly,
There never was a jealous word between
The happy pair, to mar the golden scene ;
Their life was, like a Summer's lake, serene.
And thus ends Palamon, and Emily :
God to each loving pair give like felicity 1 2510
THE FLOWBR ANB'THE LEAF.
THE ARGDMEHT.
A lady out of an arbour in a grove sees a great com-
pany of knights and ladies in a dance upon the green
grass ; which being ended, they all kneel down, and
do honour lo the daisy ; some to the flower, and
some to the leaf: afterwards, the lady learns, by one
of these ladies, the meaning hereof; wbicb is this:
they which honour the flower, a thing fading with
every blast, are such as look after beauty and worldly
pleasure; bnt they that honour the leaf, wbicb
abides with (he root, notwithstanding the frost and
winter storms, are they which follow rirtue and en-
during qualities, without regard of worldly respects.
I
THE FLOWER AND THE LEAP.
Listen, ye lovely ladies, while I tell
What to a lady, like yourselves, befell ;
The Vision that she saw, within a bower,
O' the Lady of the Leaf, and the Lady of the Flower t
A lovely dream, if dream it, were; to charm
The natural ear ; and the pure soul to arm
With adamant of virtue : ladies, hear ;
'Tis she herself, that speaks unto your ear.
.»••■.
When Phtebus had his golden chair on high
\VhirPd up the starry high-road of the sky,
Aloft, and in the Bull was entered certainly/;
When, soft and sweet, the timely showers of rain
Descended^ and new cloth'd each mountain and each
plain \
With lovely green ; and all the steaming ground
*T5ave a fresh odour, and with flowers was crown'd,
White, gold, and purple, that in Spring abound ;
•
130 THE FLOWER AND THE LEAF.
The laughing offspring of ihe pregnant showers,
And ev'ry mead, and ev'ry field was sprinkled o'er with
flowers ;
(The little children, that their lives renew,
Their little lives ; and feed on honied dew :
And spring up in the rain, whose seeds had slept
The winter dead and cold, and earth's dark mansion
kept;}
In Spring, when all is soft, and all is fair.
And every heart is light and debonair ;
1, touch'd with the sweet Season, as I lay
A certain night in bed, expectant of the day,
For why ? I could not sleep, yet knew not why ;
I had no sickness, nor no misery,
But joy'd in balmy Spring, and her felicity ;
Resolv'd to rise ; 'twas after twelve three hours ;
And visit the ripe meads, and gaze upon the flowers :
So I put on my gear, aud my array,
About the springing of the gladsome day,
Aud to a pleasant grove 1 'gan to pass,
Long ere the bright-hair'd Sun uprisen was.
Great oaks were there, as straight as any line ;
Each iVoiu the other set eight foot or nine,
The arbour benched was; and with turf new
The green-grass floor was laid, which lovely grew
So small, so thick, so short, so fresh of hue,
THE FLOWER AND THE £*EAF»
At proper space ; and all the grass, that grew
fieneath them, was new sprung, and fresh of hue ;
And .their broad branches laden with leaves new,
That had again sprung out in Phoebus' sheen,
Some very red, and some a glad light green.
131
A pleasant sight, 1 thought ; a noble sight :
And then the chanting birds fulfiU'd me with delight ;
And would have charm'd the heart of any earthly wight :
And I, that could in no way all the year
The vocal queen of woods, the nightingale yet hear,
Full bus'ly hearken'd both with heart and ear,
If I could aught perceive her sweet voice anywhere :
And, at the last, I found a narrow path ;
It seem'd no man of late it used hath ;
For it was overgrown with grass and weed,
And hardly I could walk in it indeed ;
Thought I, this path some whither sure must lead ;
And so the track I follow'd, 'till it brought
Me to a pleasant arbour, beautifully wrought.
&
132 THE FLOWER ASD THE LEAF.
Like to green wool it was ; the hedge upside,
That compass'd and shot in the arbour on ev'ry aide.
With sycamore was set, and eglantine's fine pride.
Plain as a board, within, it was to see,
So knit and iuterlwin'd harmoniously.
For safe defence, and for delightful pleasure :
Grew tv*ry branch, and even leaf by measure ;
And of an equal height, a verdant wall :
That show'd the maker's art was prodigal ;
Who thought to eclipse whatever yet was made ;
And surely such a wall I ne'er survey'd.
Sbap'd tike a pretty parlour was the bower,
The roof and all ; and like a caslle tower
The hedge was thick ; whoe'er without should pry,
Stand he all day, he nothing there can spy ;
Nur know if there were one within, or not 1
Hut who shall lie perdue within that grot,
Hid, and encompass'*! in that floral wail,
Massy awl verdant, shall discover all
That passes in the field ; on every side
Cloth'd and adorn'd with the bright Season's pride,
That through the world, however long and wide,
So rich a field could never be espied,
TH£ FL0WE11 AND THE liEAtf.
133
On any coast, abroad, or yet at home;
So lovely in the Jook, so plentiful in sum.
And when I saw these pleasant sights, 1 thought
The very air with so sweet air was fraught
Of the blithe eglantine, that such an air
Could drive away the blackness of despair :
And then 1 cast mine eye aside, and view'd
The fairest medlar-tree, that ever stood
Since Eden : full of blossoms was the tree $
Therein a goldfinch leaping prettily
From bough to bough ; and, as he list, he e"at,
Here, there, of dainty buds and flowers sweet*
Close to the arbotir was the medlar-tree ;
Wherein the little bird 'gan sing delightfully
After a pretty pause, and when he had
Eat flower and blossom with a bill full glad :
So passing sweet, he sung ; by many fold
It was a sweeter song than ever poet told :
*«r V^
The chant being o'er, the nightingale then sting ;
So merry a note ne'er through the green wood rung \
So Suddenly, and loud, and sweet, and bright,
Like a mere fool I drank in the delight,
134 THE FLOWER AND THE I.EAI?
A [!■! stood amar'd, ud with the carol rapt ;
That Tor long time my senses were not apt
To know wherein 1 stood ; to piercing dear,
1 thought indeed sbe sunt; dote to my ear.
Wherefore 1 waited busily thereabout,
And louk'd on tv'rj side to find tbe cbanfress oat ;
And, at the last, I Philomel could see,
Who sale opon a fresh green laurel tree ;
A laurel tree, near neighbour Jo the bower.
That on tbe fragrant air had passing power,
And with the eglantine perfum'd more sweet -the Morn-
ing hour.
Aye, every sweet the senses to entice ;
I surely thought I was in Paradise :
And further had no more desire to pass :
I lay me down at length upon the balmy grass ;~
A Lsii listen' d to the queenly note of Spring,
More dear to me than meat, or drink, or any tiling.
And then the arbour was so fresh and cold,
And airs so healthy did it's seal infold,
It's pleasure can be hardly thought, and never told ;
1HG FLOWEB AND THE LEAP. 135
i
And, as I la;, the nightingale to hear,'
A thousand voices burst upon my rar ;
The most delicious, and the sweetest voices, ,
As when a quire of angels well rejoices, ]
In sweet accord, and harmony on high ;
So did that heavenly song approach me nigh. «
P
And at the last oat of a grove near by, '«£
A lovely grove, and pleasant to the eye,
A world of ladies, singing lustily.
Came, like a dream, like morning, or spring flowers : U
To paint their wondrous beauly far exceeds my powers, *
Or to describe their dress : but yet I shall
Tell yon a part, although I tell not all. /
In surcoats of while velvet they were clad.
And fitted Well ; and every surcoat had
On every seam, and placed separately.
Great emeralds, whose light amaz'd Ihe eye,
And garnish'd the fair dress : and they did weave
Many a rich stone upon the purfled sleeve,
The collar, and the train ; that every lady fair
Great pearls, and round, and orient nobly bare,
1
_
136 THE FLOWER AND THE LEAP.
Diamonds of sparkling light, and rabies Ted,
And many other stones, too many to be said :
And every lady bore too on her bead
A band of shining gold, wherein I not forget
A world of stately stones, divinely set :
(And every lady had * cbaplet too
Of branches on her bead, and fresh, and green to view,
So marvellously wrought, so lovely wove,
'Twas beantitul to see such chaplets from the grove ;
Of laurel some, and some of wood-bine were,
And some their crowns of agnui ctutui ware,
Fresh from the parent bower, perfuming all the air.
But many of them dand'd, and many sung
With sober cheer, that all the meadows rang;
But always in a circle went the whole ;
One lady in the midst of them was sole,
Without companion: all pursued the pace
She set : for heaven was pictur'd in her face ;
Her perfect shape the model of all grace ;
Like angels was the beauty of every one ;
But every one by her surpassingly outdone.
The flowm ahd the leaf.
So shines amidst the lesser stare the wcon,
More splendid was her robe ; upon her hair
A kingly crowii of gold the lady bare,,
A branch of agnus ca»tu* carried in her hand j
And all her looks were lowly in command ;
I judg'd her well to be the lady of the band.
A lovely roundel she began to frame ;
And » Suse lefoyte.dewr, may," was it's name,
" State et numjofy couer at mdortny,"
The lovely ronudel sung she lovelily,
And lovely answer' d all the company,
With voices sweet entnn'd, and very small :
A melody so sweet ne'er held me yet in thrall.
And thus wilh dance and song they all came en
Iuto the middle of the mead each one.
Before the shrouded arbour, where I aate :
And secretly I blm'd my happy fate ;
For well I could discern them, one by one j
Who stood die fairest the green grass. upon,
Who could most nimbly dance, most sweetly sing,
And had a woman's air the beat in every thing.
13B THE FLOWEB AND THE t.EAP.
They danc'd not Ion; 1 , when near and suddenly
1 heard the thundering trumpets' silver cry,
That aeem'd to part the heavens and the shy ;
And after I beheld, and presently,
From the same grove, whence came the ladies cut)
Of men at arms forthcoming such a rout,
As all men upon earth had rode thereout,
On fiery horses, and they alirrd so fast,
Trembled the hollow earth, aa to its womb, aghast :
But, ah ! to speak the riches, and the stones,
The men, the horses ; Prester John not owns
In all his congregation, nor can buy
So great a wealth with all his treasury.
Of their array, who would know more, why list 1
I shall rehearse some part of what I wist.
First came out of the grove, all in cloaks white,
A Company, that wore for their delight
Fresh chaplela of the Cerial oak, new sprung,
And trumpets had they all, and on the trumpets hun°
Banners of cloth of Tars, and very broad,
And fine, and richly beat, that swang abroad
Massy, and great ; and every trumpeter
The armour of his lord about bis neck did bear,
The flower and theieaf. 13d
Set with great pearls, the collars broad, (for cost
They spared none,) for their scutcheons were etnbrat
With many a precious stone from many a laughing coast.
The harness of their steeds was trapp'd in white ;
And after them there rode upon my sight
One company of kings at arms, no more ;
In cloaks of white cloth with gold fretted o'er :
Cbaplets of green upon their heads on high ;
The crowns, 1 could upon their scutcheons spy,
Were set with pearl, and ruby, and sapphire's azure eye»
Aye, and great massy diamonds, many a one,
That each particular stone did blaze forth, like a siln :
All their hone harness, and their other gear
The same as did the trumpeters appear ;
All in a suit, and all alike they were i
Seem'd they had nought to learn ; but mannerly
Upheld their antique rank, and dignity :
And after them came a great company
Of heralds and of pursuivants array 'd
In cloth of.velret white ; who knew their trade,
And sacred art ; with chaplets on their beads :
The scutcheons, and the harness of their steeds
TUB FLOWER AND THE LEAPi
The same iu suit as those before who rant:
These fiuished the heraldick argument, , ,~
Next after these appear, in armour bright,
(And this was of the whole the fairest sight,)
Nine comely knights, all armed save their head*,
And every clasp and nail a glory sheds
Throughout their harness, being of ruddy gold:
The trappings of their steeds, both strong and bold,
That hung unto the ground, and wide, and Urge,
Were cloth of gold, and ermines were the marge :
The prancing steeds gave lively proof of courage in
the charge. "j
f
And every boss of bridle, and horse gear
Was worth a thousand pound, as should appear:
And on the heads of the nine knights were seen
Crowns, woven perfectly, of laurel green.
The best, that in the world had ever been J
And every knight had after him on horse
Three henchmen, to await his warlike course.
Every first henchman on a short staff bare
The helmet of his lord, so rich and fair, ,
It blaz'd, like Phoebus, and amazed the air :
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THE FLOWBR ANP THE LEAF. 141
V
The wont of them was worth, if&ny things,
The ransom of an emperor, or king :
The second at his back bare a shield bright :
The third a mighty spear he bare upright ;
A mighty spear, ground very sharp and keen ;
Such as Goliah's weapon may hare been.
And each had on his head a chaplet new
Of the green leaves, that in the forest grew :
And wore a velvet cloak of argent hue :
And had his horse arrayed and trapped right
The same as was his lord's, with fine delight :
And then on many a courser came a rout
Of armed knights, and spread the field about ;
It seemed all the knights of all the World were out :
And they all ware, according to degree,
New chaplets, made or of the laurel tree,
Or of the oak, or of some other tree :
And some too in their hands bright branches bare ;
Of laurel some, and some of hawthorn are,
And some of oak, and some of woodbine fair,
And many more, than I can now declare.
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142 THE FLOWER AND THE LEAF.
Soot) their horses fresh rode in the crowd,
Stirring like sprightly fire, and neighing proud,
With bloody musick of their trumpets loud :
There saw I many a knight, in strange array,
And hue magnificent, upon that day.
From every shore, where Phrebus' glances play :
And at the last as straight and evenly
As such a number could, the knightly company
Then look their place in middle of the mead ;
And every knight then turn'd his horse's head
To his compeer ; and lightly laid a spear
Into the rest, and straightway, there and here.
They 'gan on every part to just and to career ;
Some brake his spear ; some threw down horse and n
The steeds about the field without a rider ran :
Their method, order, mast'ry of the fight,
1' assure you, to behold was cause of great delight.
They justed for an hour, or more but they,
Crown'd in green laurel, bore away the day :
Their strokes so fatal, and their aim so sure,
None in the field the battle could endure:
And all the justing clean was at an end:
And from their horses the nine knights descend :
THE FLOWER AND THE LEAF.
143
And so did all the remnant of the play ;
And, two and two, together went their way
(It was a worthy sight to see the train)
Towards the ladies on the verdant plain :
Danc'd they and sang, the ladies ; as I said : •
Bat dance and song withheld, as nobly bred,
In gentle sort ; and, with a gracious air,
They went to meet the knights, approaching there.
And every lady, like a lady, took
A brave knight by the hand, with gentle look,
And feminine demeanour ; and him led
To a fair laurel, that it's branches spread
Hard by, and rear'd to heaven it's verdant head :
In my opinion never was a tree,
That half so well deserv'd a woodman's eulogy :
For underneath it's flowery canopy
A hundred persons might have found delight,
Shaded from burning heat of Phcebns bright ;
. Nor auy grievance felt of rain, nor hail, *
Nor any other hart from heaven to assail :
And then an air so wholesome, and so sweet
, A savour was exuded by the heat ;
The sick, the melancholy straight grew well,
By that good odour, and that virtuous smell,
144 THE PLOVER AND THE LEAF.
Low they inclined, and with great reverence
To the fair tree, and fragrant to the sense :
And after they bad paid it honour due,
They all began to sing ; and dance anew j •
Some aang of love, some plain'd of the untrue ;
Environing the- tree, -that stood upright :
And ever went in pairs, a lady and a knight.
And, at tbe last, I cast mine eye aside ;
And saw come roaming out of tbe field wide
A lusty company, and all at large :
And every knight a lady had in charge,
Xink'd hand in hand i in kirtles were the fair,
Purfled with many a jewel, rich and rare ;
And every gay knight a green mantle ware ;
And every mantle many jewels bare,
E'en as the kirtles very rich and rare :
And ev'ry she a chaplet on her head,
Which on the sinning hair right beauty shed,
Compos'd of goodly flowers, white and red :
The knights too, that in baud tbe ladies led.
Ware, in their suit, a chaplet every one:
And before them went minstrels many a one ;
Harp, pipe, and lute, and psaltery, all in green •
And bare upon their heads (a pleasant sight, 1 ween,)
THE FLOWEK AND THE LEAF- 14
Chaplets of crafty ait, and diverse flowers,
All in a suit, the spoil of meads and bowers;
And nodding on their heads, and drinking the soft ait :
So dancing the fresh troop into the mend they fare :
In middle of the mead a tuft they found,
All overspread with flowers, in compass round ;
Whereto tbey every one inclin'd full low,
And did great reverence to that object show :
And) at the last, with a delightful voice,
A lady 'gan to sing, and sweetly to rejoice i
Her song went lightly on swift-flowing feet :
She praised the daisy ; and in her notes sweet
St douce, she warbled, et la Murgarete.
In lovely awe, with all their vocal might,
The company replied, and sang so bright ;
1 never heard so blissful a delight ;
But yet I know not how it happen'd ; straight,
As about noon the Sun, in fiery state,
Shot so great splendour, and a heat so great ;
The pretty flowers and tender garlands lost
All tbeir fresh colours, and their beauty's cost.
1,46 THE F^OWEtt AND THKLEAP.
Shrunk up and burnt the ladies were with heal ;
And knew not where to find a cool retreat ;
Hie knights, too, faint, for lack of shade nigh dead,
Were at a toes to hid* the parched head t
And, after that, within a little, lo I
The wind began bo sturdily to blow ;
That down go all the flowers every one ;
So that in all the mead remain'd not one ;
The variegated garden wholly was undone.
Save those more happy flowers, that grew among
The hedges and thick groves ; and knew not the storm
strong,
Protected by green leaves : and, after that,
There came a storm .of hail, that fell down flat,
And rain in company : that, on my head t
The ladies and the knights had not one thread
Dry ; of them all, that stood upon the mead :
With tempest dripping wet was every jolly weed.
And, when the tempest was clean pass'd away,
And Jupiter look'd out and ahed the wholsome dayy
They, who had nothing felt of all the great affray,
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tUBffaOWBR AND THE LBAF. 147
I mean the knights, and ladies, clad in white.
Who stood under Ih* tbade of laurel with delight ;
Who knew not any harm from that, which bad
So plagu'd the gaudy troop, that In the green were clad ;
Went straightway, being touch'd with pity and ruth,
As pity, still is horn in minds of truth,
To comfort them, who such ill fortune had ;
So fain were they to aid the helpless and the sad.
Then saw I first, how one of them in green,
And therefore I rappos'd she was a queen,
Had a well-fitting crown, and passing fair ;
And all of them in green awaited on her there :
The ladies, then, in white, approaching nigh,
And all the knights in white, in company,
Began to comfort them, and speak of cheer and remedy.
The queen in white, that was of beauty great.
And had a matchless air, and a surpassing state,
like chaste Aurora at the eastern gate,
Took by the hand the queen, that was in green,
And said, " My sister, I with pity have seen
And have great pity for your late annoy,
And stormy trouble after smooth-faced joy ;
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148 THE FLO WEB AND THE LEAF.
The stormy trouble and infelicity,
Wbereio ye have been, and your company,
And been so long, alas ! and, if you please
To go with me, I shall effect your ease :
And solace you with pleasure, sans delay,
In every lovejy mean I can, or may :
My sister, then regard, and come away !
And 'gan the verdant queen her thanks to pay :
For she had been, be sure, in great affright ;
And was with storm and heat in evil plight ;
She thank'd the white queen, humbly as* she might :
And every lady, that was clad in white,
Took one in green in hand ; and every knight
Argent, that saw the same, took by the hand
A knight of the green coat, and from the meadow land
Far'd to a hedge ; and there they did not spare
To hew down the great boughs, and trees to square ;
Wherewith they made them stately 6 res and great,
To dry their gaudy clothes, and wringing wet,
And, after, of the herbs, that grew beside,
For blisters of the burning Sun, they applied
Very good ointments, wholesome, aye, and new,
As healthful as the air, as balmy as the dew ;
And went about the sick, and gave them medicine. due :
fK£<*IiOW&ft AN& Tflft LEA*. 1*9
And after went about, and gathered green
And pleasant salads ; (truly 'twas a scene,
Lovely to see ;) and then they made* them eat ;
To cool, and to refresh their griat urikittlly heat.
The Lady of the; Leaf 1 then 'gati to* mote*
(I call them from their Worship, and their love,)
Her of the Flower, tint she would *up with her :
For twinkled now Nfgbt*s milky harbinger,
Of slumb'rous beds' and tir earns the messenger ;
And bring, too* all tier people in her train. -
The Lady of the Flower replied again
To her most friendly asking in a lovely strain,
And had as many thanks, as flowers in Spring : v
And said she would obey* it* every thing,
All her commandment, and with all her heart.
The Lady of the Leaf (then bdde depart -
One of her train, td bring a palfry straight*
Clothed in golden harness, weed of state ;
The horse-milliners his gear in nothing did abate :
And, after, for them ail ! she bade to bring '
Horses of lovely shape ; and every needful thing-:
And, hasty as a dream, or swift as blows r
Fleet-winged Zephyr, lover of the rose,
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150 THE FLOWER AND THE LEAF.
E'en by tbe harbour, where 1 gate they puss'd,
All tbe whole congregation, in fine baste.
So merrily singing, like, the morning light,
It would have solac'd any living wight. :
But then I saw a passing wondrous sight ;
For then the nightingale, that all the day
Had in the laurel sate, and done what in. her lay,
To sing th' entire service to the courteous May,
All suddenly began to take her flight,
And to the Lady of the Leaf forthright
She flew ; and soft upon her hand she sate :
A thing, that in me bred a marvel great:
The gold-finch, too, that from the medlar tree
The heat to the cold bushes made to flee,
Fled to the Lady of the Flower, and sate,
As chose him, on her hand in pretty state ;
And pleasantly his wings began to fold :
And both the birds again their music told,
And took great pains, and travelled in their lay ;
As they had done the entire of the day.
And so these ladies rode a nimble pace,
And all the rout of knights in awe and grace :
X i
THE FLOWER AND THE LEAF. 151
I, tbat this wonder saw, was e'en on 'fire
To satisfy with knowledge my desire,
And know the truth and meaning of the thing *
I fain would dip my chalice in the spring,
1' the fountain o' the argument, and know
Who, what they were, that had enacted soi
And when the ladies and the knights were gone,
Much like a Summer's dream, and now I sate alone,
I left the arbour, and 1 met straightway -
A lady very fair, as fair as day :
And she came riding by herself alone ; ^,
And clad in white ; and modesty was shown
In all her wise deportment, and her face :
Her I saluted with all welcome grace,
And every gentle vow, in bumble cheer :
And she replied, " Great thanks, my daughter dear ! "
" jtfadam," quoth I, " if that I durst enquire
Of you, I fain would know, of what that quire
And company are made ; in horsy show
That by the arbour pass'd away e'en now ?''
And she again replied in friendly tone,
" My daughter, all that now are hereby gone
In garments white, are servants every one
Unto the Leaf, and 1 myself am one/'
15* THB PLOWEH AND THE LEAP.
" Saw ye not her, that wore the crowu. and is'
Enrob'd in white ?" " Madam," taid I then, " yes :*'
" That leader of the argent world," said she,
" Diana is, the queen of chastity,
And, being a maid, she carries in her hand"
A branch of Una. which men well understand
By the chute name of agnu» eathu, am)
The ladies in her anit and company,
That kept the shadow of the verdant tree,
Whose herby chaplets ya have witness' d fine
Of agnui taitus, laurel, and woodbine,
Looking like queens, with crowns upon their bead,
Are snch, as always have kept maidenhead :
And all the knights, that laurel chaplets wear, '
Are such, as strong and hardy were in war:
Victorious names, which never may be dead :
Their biting swords and their keen lances shed
Such terrour in all hearts, and every land :
In all their time no one might them withstand. '
" They, that wear chaplets of the fresh' Woodbine,
Are snch, as have been true to love divine,
In word, thought, deed-; and never beeti untrue ;■
But steadfast always ; walking equal through
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THE HOWER AND THE LEA?.
153
Pleasure, or sorrow, lively hope, or fear :
Albeit to pieces they their hearts should tear>
Yet would they never change : but steadfast be,
Till they o'erpass the marge and threshold of mortality."
" Ah ! now, fair Jtfadam, tell me yet, I pray ;
Instruct me by your wisdom, sans delay,
Since it has lik'd your beauty and your grace
The truth of these fair ladies to uncase ;
Telling me all their tale ; likewise, to tell
What are these knights, that in rich armour dwell,
And have the Flower's device, and robe in green $
Why some pay reverence to the laurel green,
And some unto the flowery plot, as I have seen ?"
" With right good will," said she " my daughter fair,
Since your desire is good and debonair :
The crowned Nine are the example rare
Of all the honour, 'longs to chivalry ;
And the Nine Worthy are they call'd for dignity :
Which ye may see they rode before the rest,
For memory of many a noble act and gest,
Whose worthy acts have woven on their head
The crown of laurel, that to glory' is wed :
As ye may find it in your old books said,
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154 THK FLQWE* AND THE LEAP.
Always the laurel he for honour bore,
Who in sharp battle was a conqueror.
" And they, that bare in hand the prerioos boughs
Of laurel, as a type of warlike tows,
And shall endure, the while the world is stable.
Were the most nobis Knights of the Round Table :
Spirits of clear enacting : and to these
Add the right holy Peers, who scorn' d the silken eat
Glory is only health ; the lack of it disease ;
Laurel they bear, token of victory ;
And witness of their actions mightily.
" Also there old Knights of the Garter are.
Who in their lime did great renown in war ;
Honour they pay to the fair laurel tree,
That have by it their dne celebrity,
Their martial glory, and their victory ;
Which unto them more perfect wealth bestows,
Than any man imagines, thinks, or knows.
" For ODe leaf given of that noble tree
To any man, thai, hath dime worthily;
If it be done so, as it ought to be ;
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THE FLOWER. AND THE I*EAF. 155
Is greater honour, than aught else on earth :
Witness it, Rome; thaj; fouAtain.was, and -birth
Of spurring knighthood, and deeds marvellous :'
I find record of it in Livy thus.
" And, as for her, that crowned is hi green, i
Flora she is, of sparkling flowers the queen :
And all 9 that here on her are waiting seen.
Are of such folk, that lov'd mere idleness,
And had delight in no just business ;
Only to hunt, and hawk, and play in meads ; ' \
And many other such like idle deeds.
" And, for the great delight, and pleasure they
Have to the Flower, obeisance such they pay,
And in such holy sort, as ye have seen to-day."
" Ah ! now fair madam, if I dare to ask x
What is the cause, it is my latest task,"
Said I, " what is the cause, and why the Leaf
Should rather be to knights. th\ ensign of honour chief,
Than shall the lovely Flower ? I pray* unbind this sheaf.'*
"» «
" To say the truth, my daughter, it is thus :
Knights ever should be strong, and valorous ;
i
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166 THE FLOWER AMD TlIE LEAF.
Seek honour ; nor let sloth their senses drown :
For perseverance wins th* immortal crown :
From well to better in all manner of thing ;
For straight and strong sends spear throughout the ring
In sign of which the lasting leaf they bear,
The tantamount reward of all their service fair ;
Whose lusty green shall never know impair.
" The laurel all the year is fresh and green ;
The jolly leaf, belov'd of Jove, is always glossy seen :
Nor hail, nor snow, nor wind, nor frost, however keen,
Can rob her of this property and grace :
She always looks the year delighted in the face,
But, for the flower; within a little space,
It's simple nature shall be lost, and die:
It cannot bear the least calamity.
" And every storm will blow it soon away :
It scarcely lasts an hour ; is aged in a day :
This is the cause, the very truth to say,
The flower may never bind the noble head, "
That is to glory, as a wife is, wed."
" Madam,", said I, •« I thank you with my heart,
Most humbly, for the truth you here impart.
THE FLOWER AND THE LEAF, 157
For now I know what I desir'd to know."
" I am right glad," said she, " if it be so,
To give yon pleasure ; pray yon, tell me now
To whom do you this year your service owe,
Tbel-eaf? or Flower? to which make you yonr mv. ?"
" Madam," said I, " though 1 least worthy am,
Unto the Leaf I bind me without blame :"
" That is," said she, " right well done, sure : I pray
God to advance, and honour you all way :
And keep you from the fiend, that walks the world nil
From all bis memory, awl his cruelty ;
And likewise keep front him all Virtue's family :
" For here 1 may no looger now abide :
Bat with Diana 1 make haste to ride,
Diana, and her troop, that yet you see :
For now your eye is cloth' d with perspicuity :
Daughter, farewell." 1 bade, farewell, again :
And kiss'd her garment's hem. She scudded
After Diana, and her maiden train ;
Like a fleet-footed deer, or morning light :
And I drew homeward, for it touch'd on night
168
THB FLOWER AND THE LEAF.
And put what I had seen in writing fair :
Shone fii'd the Polar li&b t, and b roadly blaz'd the Bear s
And then Night wau'd, and Hecate fled away ;
I sought my dreamy coach, before die 1 day :
ttting first tUank'd the Heavens, that ahow'd dm neb -
a play.
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